Duty for importing an electric car into Russia

The difference between electric vehicles

Initially, vehicles with electric drive were created with the aim of reducing the amount of harmful gases emitted into the atmosphere during the operation of diesel engines. But today, such cars are also considered much more economical than conventional cars. After all, for a full charge of the battery, the owner of an environmentally friendly vehicle will have to pay only 200-300 rubles, while for a tank of gasoline filled to the brim, the car owner will be required to pay from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles.

However, this is where the advantages of electric cars end. But the disadvantages of such a vehicle should be emphasized:

• High cost;
• Problematic maintenance (not all technical stations undertake the repair of Leaf, Tesla and other similar cars, since they contain heavy electronics, which require special stands);
• Limited mileage (a full battery charge is enough for 250-300 km of travel. Well, specialized gas stations with environmentally friendly fuel do not exist in every city).

At the same time, customs clearance of electric vehicles has become preferential quite recently. Until 2021, the demand for this type of vehicle reached its minimum level.

What is the cost of customs clearance?

Calculating the cost of customs clearance of an electric car in Russia, according to the 2021 calculator, will consist of five main components:

1. Payment for the work of checkpoint employees (this includes: paperwork, checking the vehicle and entering it into the traffic police database);
2. Unified state duty (only disabled people of groups 1 and 2, labor veterans, military officers, parents of large families and pensioners are exempt from this payment);
3. Tax on importing a car into Russia (the amount depends on the amount of horsepower);
4. Excise tax (levied exclusively on legal entities);
5. Recycling fee.

It is important to know! According to the rules of the border checkpoint, customs clearance of Tesla, Leaf and other electric vehicles occurs in the same way as registration of gasoline cars. This limitation is due to the fact that environmental transport also requires a Russian vehicle vehicle.

Main settings

The largest duty for importing any car into the Russian Federation is the horsepower tax, which is calculated at several rates. The amount of this tax depends on the following criteria:

• Vehicle age;
• Its original cost (calculated from the purchase/sale certificate);
• Social status of the vehicle owner (as mentioned earlier, some categories of citizens receive benefits during customs clearance of a car).

What tariffs exist today and how duties on electric vehicles in Russia in 2021 differ from them, we will consider below.

Rates

You can calculate the cost of customs control for a car with a gasoline or diesel engine using the table below:

It is important to know! But when clearing an electric car through customs, the same duty will be calculated at different rates. You need to calculate the full amount to pay before arriving at the border, since checkpoint employees do not provide such services.

How popular in Russia

Although this type of transport is still innovative, its number is increasing from year to year over time. In Moscow, by order of the mayor, the development of an electric car was introduced in 2007. Namely, the government purchased 8 not very large trucks and 2 buses to provide transportation of passengers around the city and transportation of goods.

Only over time, a small number of electric cars began to be purchased by citizens for their personal use. The trend towards preserving the environment came from Europe and Japan, and therefore the models of such vehicles mainly belong to the manufacturers Nissan, Mitsubishi, Renault and Tesla.

After this, a domestic electric car was invented - Lada Hellas. Although the cost of a car from the domestic automobile industry is lower, users still give preference directly to cars from foreign manufacturers.

Last fall, the Ministry of Energy envisaged that by the end of 2021, 200,000 electric cars would be put into operation in the Russian Federation. If we draw a parallel with the existing trend at the moment, the figure looks utopian.

Features of calculation for electric vehicles

By taxation

VAT and Unified Tax, cars with gasoline and diesel engines are no different from electric cars. But the horsepower rate for the second type of vehicle is completely different, and its total amount cannot exceed 8,500 euros, which does not apply to standard vehicles. These are the numbers stated in Art. 164 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. As for the customs code, it evaluates environmentally friendly cars somewhat differently.

Main settings

Despite the fact that they require less money for customs clearance of electric vehicles in Russia, a single rate is calculated for them according to the same criteria as for other types of vehicles. Namely:

• Year of issue;
• Actual cost (indicated in the purchase/sale document);
• Driver status (disabled person, pensioner, or breadwinner with many children).

But when calculating the cost through an online calculator, the listed indicators will be multiplied by a reduced rate, which will ultimately affect the reduction in the amount of tax for customs clearance.

Rates

The coefficient for the fee for registration of an environmental vehicle on the territory of the Russian Federation is calculated based on the following parameters:

• Motor power up to 90 hp. – duty-free border passage;
• From 90 to 150 horsepower - the cost of each hp. will be 37 rubles;
• Over 150 horses – excise tax price per 1 hp. will rise to 365 rubles.

At the same time, until 2021, no import tax was collected from drivers for the import of electric vehicles into Russia. But today it is no longer possible to clear customs of this kind of vehicle for free, which not all car enthusiasts know about.

Stages of customs clearance

When crossing the border on environmental transport, a single algorithm is provided for all individuals and legal entities, which consists of four simple steps:

1. Payment of a deposit (this fee is charged as a kind of guarantee that the citizen will go through all subsequent procedures, and it must be paid not at the border itself, but by bank transfer, a few days before the car is imported into the Russian Federation);
2. Passing the checkpoint (upon arrival at the border post, customs officers conduct a thorough inspection of the vehicle and related documents);
3. Vehicle registration (at this stage, the owner of the electric car provides all the necessary papers and certificates to calculate the total cost of the tax and enter his vehicle into the traffic police database. He is given no more than 2 weeks for this procedure. If during this time he does not have time to pay all the duties, the stages of customs clearance will have to be completed anew. Therefore, you need to calculate the exact amount to pay and collect a package of documents even before you buy a car);
4. Obtaining a Russian-style PTS (when registering a car, the State Traffic Inspectorate issues the driver a new certificate, which also indicates the presence of his vehicle in the traffic police database. This is the final procedure that does not require any financial costs).

Based on this, it follows that the import of an electric vehicle into Russia (2021) follows the same rules as for conventional gasoline or diesel units. The only privilege provided for owners of environmentally friendly transport is a reduced customs duty rate.

General provisions

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 357) states that the transport tax applies to all cars that are subject to taxation. Based on the same Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Article 358), this category includes the following vehicles - buses, cars, ATVs, motorcycles, and so on. Transport tax is calculated after the vehicle is registered with the traffic police.

As for the features of electric transport, just 10-15 years ago such cars seemed unattainable, the cars of the future. But with the development of technology and increased production volumes, more and more electric cars are appearing on the streets of large cities. A special feature of the vehicle is its ability to run on an electric motor, which is powered by a special battery. There is no classic internal combustion engine here.

The first electric cars appeared in Moscow back in 2007, when the then-current mayor ordered the purchase of two buses and eight trucks for freight and passenger transportation. Over time, electric passenger cars appeared among ordinary citizens, and it became clear that this trend would continue in the future. The main manufacturers of equipment are Nissan, Renault, Tesla and Mitsubishi.

Over time, production of a domestically produced electric car called Lada Hellas began. Despite the lower price, people prefer foreign products. Recently, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation announced that by the end of 2021, more than 200 thousand cars with an electric motor will be in operation in the Russian Federation. Today, such figures are, to say the least, questionable.

Will the transport tax on electric cars be abolished?

Many drivers are discussing the issue of abolishing duties on the import of eco-friendly cars into the Russian Federation. But where does this information come from if this type of vehicle is subject to mandatory taxation? The answer is quite simple: exemption from customs duties is provided only for countries of the Eurasian Economic Commission, which include:

• Armenia;
• Belarus;
• Russia;
• Kazakhstan;
• Kyrgyzstan.

Attention! But when buying a car on the American or European market, such privileges will not apply to citizens. But not everyone knows about this nuance. Therefore, there is often a rumor among car enthusiasts about the complete exemption of eco-cars from taxes.

We found out what duty on electric vehicles in 2021 is imposed on people importing vehicles from neighboring countries, and on those who bought environmentally friendly vehicles far beyond its borders. In conclusion, it is worth adding that the customs code, like the legislation of the Russian Federation, tends to constantly change. Therefore, the above information may become irrelevant in a few years.

Initiative to abolish transport tax from 2021

The government initiated the issue of abolishing the collection of transport tax from owners of electric vehicles starting from 01/01/2018 for 5 years, in connection with which a draft amendment to the Tax Code has been prepared. State Duma deputies decided to finalize the text of the document and make adjustments to some of its provisions. The main comments from the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes were:

• The possibility of exemption from TN for owners of electric vehicles, both domestic and foreign made, and at the same time for some models, like Tesla, that are extremely expensive and considered a luxury;
• Stimulating the purchase of electric vehicles by Russians with such benefits will not give the desired result without developing a network of special gas stations for such vehicles;
• The decision must be made at the level of the constituent entities, since this type of tax is regional and it is not correct to decide on the abolition of such a fee at the federal level; the federal budget cannot assume compensatory functions.

Now it is too early to speak definitively about the fate of the bill, but the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes rejected it. Now everything depends on the results of consideration of the draft law at a plenary meeting of the State Duma, the date of which is still unknown. This initiative is supported by the Federation of Car Owners of Russia, according to the head of which this measure will generate interest among both Russian motorists and domestic manufacturers.