On Monday 27 May, BIL, NAF and NBF met at the Ministry of Finance to give our input on next year’s state budget.
BIL’s head of analysis, insight and sustainability, Erik L. Solum, started the meeting by giving State Secretary Geir Indrefjord (Sp) an update on how things are going in the market, as well as examples of how sensitive the market is to changes in taxes or incentives.
The topic surrounding the further phasing in of VAT on electric cars naturally received the most space. BIL, like NBF, agrees that in the long run there will be full value added tax on electric cars as well. But we believe that this must be phased in gradually, with good predictability, so that it does not create uncertainty for consumers and the industry, nor does it stand in the way of meeting climate targets.
The government wrote in the revised national budget that they are in dialogue with ESA with a view to further exemptions, in line with our previous input. We emphasized the importance that the contribution point of NOK 500,000 must remain untouched next year as well, so that the 2025 target is still within reach.
In other words, we repeated the message from the meeting we had with State Secretary Erlend Grimstad in the Ministry of Finance in February.
The vans need towing assistance
In the wake of this, we had a constructive conversation in which the three organizations came up with concrete input on common matters. In addition to VAT on the electric car issue, we talked a lot about the light vans. We believe that powerful, predictable and non-bureaucratic means must be in place to achieve the goals that have been set. History shows that it is essential to increase the replacement rate.
It is important that the authorities do not increase the one-off tax on the light vans with fossil powertrains, simply because there are currently not enough electric alternatives with four-wheel drive, heavy trailer weight and a good enough range.
From left: Erik Solum (BIL), Lars-Erik Sletner (NAF), state secretary Geir Indrefjord (Sp), Ida Krag (NBF) and Andreas Handeland (BIL).
Coming in October
Both BIL, NBF and NAF experienced the meeting as constructive, and that the State Secretary was curious and interested in what we had to say.
The proposal for the state budget for 2025 will be presented on 7 October, so then we will get the answer to whether we have been heard.