2024 Budget Approved: What to Expect for Streetcar and Electric Car Owners in Israel

2024-01-17 20:31:11
The purchase tax on streetcars will increase, but not at the rate that was originally supposed to increase, the passenger tax will probably go into effect in 2026 and there are a few more “surprises” for car owners in Israel on the way, such as the return of congestion charges – according to the wording of the 2024 budget approved yesterday by the government. From the point of view of the owners of polluting electric cars, the budget has many reasons for concern – and it also generates quite a few questions. As published in “Calcalist”, the budget outlines a clear map of purchase tax increases on electric cars that will begin this January and continue until 2027, but beyond that, the updated text also includes quite a few “goats” and question marks that currently cannot be answered clearly.

The subject of the travel tax charges that the State of Israel will collect from the owners of electric cars, for example: at this stage it is not clear whether the person who will pay is the registered owner of the vehicle, what will be done when it is a company vehicle, what will happen when in the middle of a “travel year” the owner of the vehicle sells it to someone else – and how Travel tax payments will be handled in the case of leasing cars.

The finance plan has bi-monthly collection targets that will be calculated according to the average distance traveled by a vehicle and will make streetcar owners pay every two months “advances” based on the average distance traveled. There are also vague wordings that refer to mileage tests – through the annual test, the vehicle’s speedometer or other means. There is also a refund for electric vehicle owners who drove less than the average, which is not clear how it will be handled at this stage.

In the bottom line, apart from the clear knowledge that buying an electric vehicle will become more expensive as well as driving it, everything else is not clear now and will probably become clear in the coming months.