Car taxation in EU increasingly based on CO2 emissions - ACEA
Sat 24 April 2010
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A majority of the EU's 27 member states operate car taxation systems based on CO2 levels according to the European car industry body, ACEA, which has just published its 2010 Tax Guide. The number of countries using CO2 as a basis for taxation is quickly increasing. More countries are also offering cash incentives for buying electric vehicles.
The number of countries operating CO2-based taxation systems for car tax has increased from nine in 2006 to 17 at the latest count. Germany and Latvia are the latest two to join the group since last year, says ACEA.
All of the original 15 EU countries, except Italy and Luxembourg, now provide cash incentives to help with the purchase of electric cars, including hybrids. The incentives mainly take the form of tax reductions and exemptions applied to car registration taxes, car circulation taxes, or both.
In issuing its latest Tax Guide, ACEA reiterated its call for countries to levey standardised CO2-based car taxes across Europe. ACEA says: "Failure to harmonise tax systems weakens the environmental benefits that CO2-based taxation and incentives can bring".
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