The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines, or eVap, urged the government to prioritize fiscal incentives on electric vehicles to boost the industry’s foothold in the country.
The association projects that these incentives will aid in achieving their 2015 targets of expanding exports to $6 billion, provide employment for about 150,000 in the mainstream auto and parts industries, and another 50,000 in allied industries.
eVap has 40 members who are electric vehicle manufacturers, assemblers, importers, dealers, suppliers, enthusiasts and members of the academe. It currently.
“Policy reforms are recommended to help expand the domestic market. We see these initiatives as a much-needed shot-in-the-arm for the sunrise electronic vehicle industry and will ultimately help us be competitive in the region,” eVap president Rommel Juan said on Monday.
Some of the fiscal incentives proposed by eVap include an extended income tax holiday, of three to eight years for high-technology activities such as electric vehicle manufacturing.
They are also asking for a tax and duty exemption for capital equipment, spare parts materials, and imported raw materials.
Furthermore, they want additional tax deductions for labor expenses; export market development; innovation, research and development.
Also proposed are tax incentives for periodic increases in exports and an exemption from internal taxes levied on domestic products outside economic zones.
When the tax holiday and exemption periods end, a special rate of only 5 percent on gross income will then be applied.
Roadmap
These incentives were adopted by eVap wholesale from University of Asia and the Pacific professor Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba’s electric vehicles’ roadmap of the Philippines.
The roadmap aims to “strengthen the position of the Philippines as a significant automotive player in the medium term and by 2020, become a regional hub for CBUs (completely build units) and parts in Asia supported by a strong domestic supplier base.”
Juan projects that, with adoption of the roadmap, the prices of electric jeepneys, quardicycles, tricycles, buses, scooters and bicycles will be reduced by as much as 30 percent.
“We are confident that the EV industry will then also grow at the same, if not faster, rate than the auto industry,” he added.
“We at eVap are very optimistic about this proposed roadmap as it is expected to double local CKD (completely knock down) assembly by 2019, increase local value-added labor and parts by 50 percent by the same year,” noted Juan.
Currently, Senate Bill No. 2856 or the Electric, Hybrid and Other Alternative Fuel Vehicles Incentives Act of 2011, is at second reading. The bill contains the eVap’s
fiscal incentive proposals.
The House’s counterpart bill, House Bill No. 5460, was approved by Lower House and has subsequently been transmitted to the Senate last March.
