Aid to buy an electric car: this is how they look after going through the Treasury

The aid that can be received for the purchase of a new electric car or plug-in hybrid is considered capital gains, and as such must be included in the Income Statement.

Incentivizing the purchase of electric cars is one of the many factors necessary to increase the electrification of the car fleet. In theory, the objective of the aid from the Government’s MOVES III plan is to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, but they seem designed for the opposite: they are not received at the time of purchasing the vehicle, they take up to a year to reach the applicant and, as if that were not enough, then you have to return a part to the Treasury.

Aid from the MOVES III plan are considered capital gains , so they must be taxed as such in the Income Statement. The always attentive public Treasury does not let go of aid that, if they wanted to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles much more, they could have had an honorable exception in this regard. This is not the case, so it is time to include them in the Income Statement in case you benefit from them.

Amount of aid

The MOVES III program includes grants of up to 7,000 euros for the purchase of electric cars (with old car scrap) and up to 4,500 euros without scrap.

In the case of plug-in hybrid cars , the aid reaches 5,000 euros with scrap, or 2,500 euros without scrap. It is a fundamental requirement that the plug-in hybrid in question has more than 30 kilometers of autonomy in electric mode. In theory they can have up to 7,000 euros of help, but no plug-in hybrid meets the requirements .

There are also aids for the purchase of an electric motorcycle (categories L3e, L4e, L5e) whose power is equal to or greater than 3 kW. In this case, there is aid of up to 1,300 euros if a motorcycle is delivered that is more than seven years old. In case of not delivering an old motorcycle, the help is 1,100 euros.

These are the amounts established for individuals and the self-employed. The aid varies in the case of fleets, SMEs and large companies.

How much do you have to return to the Treasury?

There are still a few months left to start the 2022 Income Statement campaign , but if you received public aid last year to buy an electric car, a plug-in hybrid car or an electric motorcycle, you must gradually assimilate that you will have to return a part.

The amount to be returned depends on the annual income of the applicant and the Autonomous Community of residence. Without taking the latter into account (to simplify), the amount to be returned (payable base) varies between 19% and 47% , according to the following sections:

Annual income of up to 12,450 euros: 19% to be returned
Annual income of up to 20,200 euros: 24% to be returned
Annual income of up to 35,200 euros: 30% to be returned
Annual income of up to 60,000 euros: 37% to be returned
Annual income of up to 300,000 euros: 45% to be returned
Annual income of more than 300,000 euros: 47% to be returned

Discounts applied by the dealer should not be declared, only direct aid from the MOVES III plan. Knowing the above, those who benefit from the maximum aid (7,000 euros) for the purchase of an electric car will have to return between 1,330 and 3,290 euros , depending on their income level.

Another thing must be taken into account: the fact of receiving aid from the MOVES III plan can make those people whose income is close to the limits established by the Treasury jump to the next step of personal income tax, applying a higher withholding in their declaration. Assuming, for example, a salary of 30,000 euros gross per year, receiving aid of 7,000 euros means going from paying 30% to 37%, thus increasing the amount that must be returned.

Actual amount of aid

If we subtract what must be returned from the gross amount of the aid, we have that the net, or real, aid to buy an electric car ranges between 3,710 and 5,670 euros (with scrapping) , or between 2,385 and 3,645 euros in case of not delivering an old car to scrap.

In the case of plug-in hybrids, the net aid ranges between 2,650 and 4,050 euros with scrap, and between 1,325 and 2,025 euros without scrap.

And in the case of electric motorcycles, the net amounts of aid range from 689 to 1,053 euros with scrap, and between 583 and 891 euros if an old motorcycle is not delivered.