Criticism of taxes for electric cars

Criticism of taxes for electric cars

“The new federal government promised de-bureaucratization and administrative simplification when it took office, but there was no sign of this after the details of a newly introduced motor-related insurance tax became known,” said Günther Kerle, spokesman for Austrian automobile importers, after the relevant draft law became known. “It is clear to us that the automotive industry also has to contribute something to the budget restructuring,” said Kerle, “which is why we are not defending ourselves against this new tax per se, despite the strictest climate protection requirements.”

Wasted opportunity

According to Kerle, the opportunity to generally rethink and simplify the motor-related insurance tax was missed. “On the contrary, additional complex calculation formulas have been added to the existing law.” From April there will be three different calculation formulas: once for combustion engines and 'normal' hybrid models, once for plug-in hybrid models and once for purely electric models. “What surprises us most is that on this occasion the surcharge for intra-year payments of 10% on the calculated tax remained the same,” says Kerle. "Charging ten percent interest - you can certainly speak of usurious interest rates. And this mainly affects those car owners who cannot afford a one-off annual premium. It is a shame that these points were not taken into account when the extensive changes to the law in question were made," concludes Kerle.

Manageable evil

For Martin Grasslober, ÖAMTC transport expert, the new tax is a “manageable evil” compared to the initially rumored tightening for electric cars. Due to the change in the law, it can be assumed that the tax for the majority of electric cars will be less than 500 euros for a whole year - although the range is likely to range from around 70 to over 2,000 euros due to the different registered services and dead weights. “If we assume that electromobility will increasingly reach the lower-performance and lighter vehicle segments in the future, the taxation for many vehicles is likely to be on the lower side,” explains Grasslober. In any case, consumers should think about the amount of motor-related insurance tax before buying a car – new or used, with or without an electric motor. Due to the current adjustments, the ÖAMTC is once again calling for the taxes to be paid to be made visible at the time of purchase. “If you only think about how much you will ultimately have to pay when you take out the insurance, it is too late,” the expert explains.