The previous caretaker cabinet proposed a weight correction in the calculation of motor vehicle tax for electric cars. This was to prevent electric cars from going hand in hand with potentially unattractively high monthly costs due to their higher vehicle weight caused by the battery pack. The Budget Day documents show that a weight correction will indeed be introduced, but it has been – as the cabinet itself states – ‘simplified’. It has now been announced that not 40 percent, but 25 percent of the vehicle weight of an electric car may be deducted. But there is more. The weight correction in the mrb calculation will also disappear a year earlier than initially planned. The figures are clear: from 2030, the weight correction will be a hard 0%. The cabinet writes that ‘the new figures show that the budgetary loss is considerably higher than previously estimated,’ which is why the ‘simplification’ was deemed necessary. Interest groups ANWB, Bovag, Natuur & Milieu, RAI Vereniging and VNA are not happy with the change in the plan. “The cabinet’s turn now confronts the consumer with unexpected extra costs. This undermines confidence in the government,” state ANWB, BOVAG, Natuur & Milieu, RAI Vereniging and VNA in a joint response to the cabinet plans. According to the organizations, the surprise is even greater because ‘the promised 40 percent’ had already been approved by the First and Second Chambers. The organizations believe that limiting the weight correction for EVs will delay the transition to electric driving. RAI Vereniging also says that “(…) the price of mobility is being driven up by higher taxes.” The national budget apparently shows that the cabinet wants to ‘collect’ approximately €19.3 billion from the motorist. This income must come from, among other things, bpm, mrb and excise duty. Car tax reform The cabinet already announced in the previously presented government program that it wants to reform car taxes. “In the coming decades, the vehicle fleet will consist of electric cars and fuel cars. It is important that the burden is distributed fairly across both groups, so that driving remains affordable and electric cars are sufficiently supported to achieve the agreed climate and energy targets and to realise nitrogen reduction. Due to the gradual increase in electric cars, government revenues will decrease, while we are actually striving for a stable yield from car tax in the long term. The electric driver is asked to make a fair contribution,” the cabinet writes. In the coming period, the cabinet says it will look for a “(…) new future-proof balance between these developments.” In the first quarter of 2025, it will present a plan for the reform of car taxes in which various options will be elaborated. No bpm advantage for PHEVs The taxation of plug-in hybrid cars will also change. It is proposed to scrap the entire BPM rate table devised for PHEVs, with higher amounts per gram of CO2. Due to European regulations, the measurement method for plug-ins is being adjusted – to the disadvantage of plug-ins. You can read more about this here . Because plug-ins have higher CO2 emissions on paper due to stricter measurement methods, the special rate table is no longer necessary, or so the idea goes. The result: plug-in hybrids may soon become considerably more expensive, but less expensive than if the current PHEV table were to remain in place. In 2027, the measuring method will become even stricter and a significantly higher BPM for PHEVs is looming. The intention to introduce a maximum speed of 130 km/h on Dutch motorways ‘where possible’ remains in place. The purchase subsidy for new electric cars will be abolished as of 2025. That was also already known. Municipalities will be allowed to introduce so-called zero-emission zones from 2025, while the government itself is proposing to postpone zero-emission zones. The RAI Association is also not happy about that: ‘that is a swerving policy’, according to chairman Van Bruggen in a response.
Source: www.autoweek.nl
