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.