Tesla Owners in China are Now Asking for Refunds...

Source: CNBC

Tesla customers in China are scrambling to figure out if they can get a refund after the electric car company scored a tax break from the government there last week.

Authorities in China exempted Teslas cars from a 10% purchase tax, making the electric car maker the first foreign manufacturer to attain the benefit without a local joint venture partner. With Tesla stressing the increased importance of expansion in China, the exemption announcement buoyed Teslas shares.

Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said that dozens of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle makers qualified for the tax break. That list includes Toyota and Daimler, which have local partners, along with domestic companies like Geely, Guangzhou Auto, NIO and SAIC Motor.

While the news was a boon for Tesla, it also caused some confusion. Customers arent sure if they are eligible for the refunds retroactively, or whether the tax break applies only to new buyers.

Some customers in China complained that Tesla should have warned them that a tax exemption may be possible, so they could have delayed purchases and qualified for the deal. But Zhu Xiaotong, Teslas China head, told the state-sponsored Global Times that Tesla China couldnt make information about its application for the exemption public.

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