Electric car buyers to pay more as tax waivers see big reduction in Hong Kong budget
Government ends full exemptions from first registration tax on electric cars, in a move decried by concern groups as a setback for the growth of clean energy
Electric car buyers will have to loosen their purse strings after the government drastically reduced the waiver on the first registration tax with immediate effect, a move concern groups said was a blow to the use of clean energy in the city.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in his budget speech on Wednesday said discounts given on the tax would be capped at HK$97,500, meaning a buyer of a Tesla Model S would end up paying about 80 per cent of the tax payable on the car.
Full first-time tax exemptions had been offered since 1994.
An electric car priced at HK$600,000 will require the buyer to pay about HK$487,500 in first registration tax after the capped waiver, taking the total cost of buying the car to almost HK$1.1 million.
The new tax took effect at 11am on Wednesday, meaning customers placing orders for electric private cars after that time will need to pay the revised rate.
“In consideration of the overall growth of the city’s private car fleet in recent years and the increasing acceptance of electric private cars by drivers, the government has decided to revise the arrangement,” Chan said.
