MANILA, Philippines鈥擶ith electric vehicles already enjoying zero excise, the Department of Finance (DOF) expressed hesitance to ride along a proposal to provide more incentives to e-vehicle makers.
听Incentives, according to DOF鈥檚 Charm Odicta, were not effective 鈥渋n advancing the development鈥� of the e-vehicle industry.
听She said at a Senate hearing that in 2017, despite incentives offered to manufacturers, only three out of nine availed themselves of the incentives.
听One of the come-ons for e-vehicle makers and owners was the establishment of free charging stations, which also didn鈥檛 make a dent as far as increasing e-vehicle manufacturing was concerned.
听Besides, she said, incentives 鈥渃ontradicts the DOF鈥檚 efforts in reforming the tax system.鈥�
听Excise was a 鈥渂etter policy tool鈥� to lure manufacturers into producing more e-vehicles which was already done by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, or Train, law. The law already provides for zero excise for e-vehicles and 50 percent excise for hybrid cars because these use 50 percent fuel.
听Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate energy committee chair, said the high cost of electric vehicles was preventing motorists to shift to these.
听He said the industry is requesting the government for subsidies and fiscal incentives.
听鈥淢eaning remove excise, remove import duties to make e-vehicles cheaper for our people,鈥� Gatchalian said.
听The Senate and other agencies would form a technical working group in two weeks to further discuss proposals to lower e-vehicle costs. By November, according to Gatchalian, his committee would submit a bill for plenary debate.
听鈥淗opefully, this bill gets approved within the year,鈥� Gatchalian said in a mix of Filipino and English. He said five other senators have similar proposals./TSB