Costa Rican President, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, signed this Thursday the Law of Incentives for Green Transportation, which extends tax exemptions to electric cars in Costa Rica. The new law includes preferential rates for value added tax (VAT), selective consumption tax, property tax and customs value tax.
President Alvarado asked the different civil society organizations to continue fighting for a more sustainable country. “My message, my request, my plea as a citizen is to keep going, against all odds. This is one of the best legacies we can leave our children.”
The initiative was unanimously approved by the outgoing deputies and promoted by Roberto Thompson and Paola Valladares. It prevents the current tax incentives from being extinguished in 2024, as planned in the Electric Transportation Incentives and Promotion Law, sanctioned in 2018.
As part of the benefits, used electric vehicles with no more than five years, will enjoy the same tax benefits; previously, only new models received tax discounts. Additionally, the cost scale of the cars to determine the tax rate to be paid is eliminated. Now, electric cars regardless of their value, will have the same exemptions.
The benefits extend to the importation of batteries and other spare parts used by these vehicles.
“Let’s continue persuading people… so many myths have been demolished, such as these electric vehicles do not work, they are very slow and so many other things that have been said. We, Claudia and I, have been driving electric cars for practically the entire administration,” indicated President Alvarado.
“By using electric vehicles here at the Presidential Office, we saved on travel expenses, because, with the whole issue of fuel prices and all the budget cuts that had to be made, one of the things that was limited was gas; we are on top of a great transformation,” said Alvarado.
First Lady Claudia Dobles has been in charge of several projects that aim to decarbonize Costa Rica. Changing the vehicle and bus fleet has been one of her priorities during the current administration.
“We all have the responsibility to continue pushing towards such change. May this transformation towards the decarbonized Costa Rica that we all want to see continue,” the First Lady declared.
