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Drive to promote electric cars foresees series of tax incentives

Drive to promote electric cars foresees series of tax incentives

A draft government bill aims to offer incentives to people or businesses that buy electric cars, develop a network of charging stations for the environmentally friendly vehicles and create cutting-edge production units to manufacture them, Kathimerini has learned.

The bill is part of a broader drive by the government to promote electric cars in Greece which is to be presented on Friday at Technopolis in Gazi by Prime Minister Kyriakios Mitsotakis on the occasion of World Environment Day. 

The government’s long-term aim is for electric cars to account for 30 percent of vehicles on Greek roads by 2030. 

The incentives foreseen in the bill include 1,200 euros in tax breaks for individuals and 2,480 euros for company cars. Combined with the incentives of a bill passed last year for low-emission cars, the total savings for corporate electric vehicles will reach 3,500 euros.

Specifically, the bill foresees a range of incentives including: an income tax exemption for the purchase of vehicles with zero or low emissions; an increased discount on the tax for certain expenses related to such vehicles; a tax amortization benefit for vehicles with zero to low emissions; and the exemption from having to pay road tax for electric vehicles for cargo transport.

It also foresees some disincentives for old-technology vehicles such as a 4,000-euro one-off environmental levy for imported cars that meet Euro 4 emissions standards introduced in 2005, and a year-long suspension of imports of older vehicles. 

The government has been keen to promote electric vehicles as part of a broader push for environmentally friendly policies as the cars on Greece’s roads are among the oldest in Europe.

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