PHL bill for e-vehicle incentives gets House nod

A bill seeking to provide incentives for the manufacture, assembly, conversion and importation of electric, hybrid, and other alternative-fuel vehicles is now close to being passed after House of Representatives approved the proposed law on second reading.  

House Bill 5460 aims to lay down the groundwork for the widespread use of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in the country and thus lessen dependence on imported fossil fuel.  

The measure, which substitutes House Bills 01, 4794, 5139 and 5161, also seeks to protect the environment by mitigating the deleterious effects of harmful carbon emission into the atmosphere.  

The bill defines electric vehicle (EV) as any vehicle that uses electric motors solely for propulsion while hybrid vehicle (HV) refers to any vehicle that combines the technologies of using internal combustion engine (ICE) with a battery-powered electric motor to gain advantages of both propulsion systems.  

On the other hand, alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) pertains to any vehicle using alternative sources of energy such as but not limited to solar, wind, hydrogen fuel cell, compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) other than conventional sources of energy like petroleum and gasoline for propulsion.  

The measure exempts from the payment of excise taxes and duties for nine years from the effectivity of the law the manufacture or assembly of completely knocked-down (CKD) parts of electric, hybrid, and other alternative fuel vehicles, including the conversion of vehicles into electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.  

It also exempts from the payment of value-added tax for nine years from the effectivity of the law, the importation of raw materials, spare parts, components and capital equipment used in the manufacture or assembly of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles including the conversion of vehicles into electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.  

The sale of raw material, spare part, components and capital equipment used in the manufacture or assembly of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicle including the conversion into such vehicle shall be subject to zero percent VAT rate for nine years from the effectivity of the law.  

The bill exempts from the payment of excise taxes and duties for four years from the effectivity of the law the importation of completely built units (CBUs) of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles. — Newsbytes.ph