The Tasmanian Government says it will eliminate stamp duty on electric vehicles for a period of two years starting from July 1, 2021.
Tasmanian premier and minister for climate change Peter Gutwein says Tasmania is ideally suited to benefit from the transition to EVs with low cost renewable energy, while at the same time reducing the states dependence on imported fuels.
“The Tasmanian Parliament has approved changes to the Duties Act 2001, meaning Tasmanians will pay no stamp duty when they purchase an EV,” Gutwein says.
“This will reduce the initial higher purchase costs of EVs by around $2,000 on average, providing a significant boost to encourage interested Tasmanians to make the switch and support this growing market in Tasmania,” he says.
The move has been welcomed by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) which says is a first step towards automotive taxation reform and encouraging the penetration of electric vehicles.
“This is the kind of action we need to see from our leaders in Australia to encourage environmental improvement, taxation reform and the introduction of new technology,” FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says.
“As the future of mobility continues to rapidly transform, now is the time for Governments to relieve motorists of a myriad of confusing and inefficient charges and replace them with a simplified road user charging approach.
“The FCAI released a discussion paper earlier this year advocating for the introduction of a road user charging approach aimed at eliminating charges such as registration, sales taxes and luxury car taxes and replacing them with one efficient and effective charge,” he says.
Weber says the FCAI had consistently advocated for a national approach to these issues that ideally would be Federally led to avoid the prospect of individual State Governments introducing their own standards and incentive programs in support of ZLEVs.
“Consistency is the critical element for Australian customers. If States introduce their own programs, they must align. Otherwise, the result will be another disjointed and chaotic system such as the introduction of different rail gauges across the country,” he says.
Weber says that the FCAI supported the introduction of sensible and achievable CO2 emissions targets as set out in the FCAI 2020 Voluntary CO2 Emissions Standard that allowed customers to choose the vehicles and technology they wanted to suit their personal and commercial needs.
“In the long term, the aim is to reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles. Governments should focus on targets, not technologies. If governments set the targets, the carmakers will deliver the range of vehicles into the market that achieve the environmental outcomes and meet the needs of Australian motorists,” he says.
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