Law for the Promotion of Electric Mobility provides economic incentives to purchase e-vehicles

Introduction
Subventions

Introduction

On 21 July 2020 Parliament enacted the Law for the Promotion of Electric Mobility (OJ A' 142/23.07.2020), through which it introduced:

• numerous tax and other incentives for the promotion of e-vehicles;
• provisions for the organisation of the e-vehicle market; and
• provisions regarding spatial planning arrangements for the development and installation of charging stations.

This law also transposed the EU Directive on the Promotion of Clean and Energy-Efficient Road Transport Vehicles (2019/1161/EU) into Greek law.

Among other things, the law provides that:

• publicly available charging stations and free parking spaces will be created for e-vehicles;
• revenues from the environmental fee imposed on emission-generating vehicles will be used to create incentives for the promotion of e-vehicles; and
• the cost for charging e-vehicles will be deductible for income tax purposes.

Moreover, the law provides companies with incentives to purchase e-vehicles, such as the possibility to deduct part of the purchasing cost of specific types of e-vehicle for tax purposes.

Subventions

According to the joint ministerial decision (OJ 3323 Β/7.8.2020) issued pursuant to Article 62 of the aforementioned law, purchasers of e-vehicles which are either natural or legal persons and taxi drivers are entitled to a subvention for the purchase of e-vehicles.

Natural persons are entitled to receive:

• a 20% subvention on the purchase price of e-cars costing up to €30,000, up to a maximum subvention of €6,000, and a 15% subvention on the purchase price of e-cars costing between €30,001 and €50,000, up to a maximum subvention of €6,000; and
• a 20% subvention on the purchase price of e-motorbikes before value added tax (VAT) and a 40% subvention on the purchase price of e-bicycles before VAT, up to a maximum subvention of €800.

Further deductions to the purchase price may apply in cases of withdrawal of a previously held vehicle or if other special conditions apply (eg, for taxi drivers, large families and the disabled). A subvention of €500 is also offered for the purchase of a charging station. The subvention offered for the purchase of hybrid vehicles is smaller than the one offered for pure e-vehicles.

Legal persons are entitled to receive:

• a 15% subvention on the purchase price of pure e-vehicles costing up to €50,000 before VAT (retail price), up to a maximum subvention of €5,500; and
• a 15% subvention on the purchase price of hybrid vehicles of up to 3.5 tons which emit up to 50g CO2/km and cost up to €50,000 before VAT (retail price), up to a maximum subvention of €4,000.

The subvention offered to legal persons for the purchase of e-motorbikes and e-bicycles is the same as that provided to natural persons. The aim of the law is to provide economic incentives to purchase e-vehicles and promote electric mobility. Natural and legal persons may apply to receive the abovementioned subventions until 31 December 2021.

For further information on this topic please contact Sofia Getimi at Rokas Law Firm by telephone (+30 210 361 6816) or email (s.getimi@rokas.com). The Rokas Law Firm website can be accessed at www.rokas.com.