Green Party proposes business tax breaks for clean transport options

The Green Party has today launched a suite of new policies that will dramatically increase the number of electric vehicles on New Zealand roads, save Kiwis money, and cut pollution.

The Green Party’s new policies will remove fringe benefit tax from

electric vehicles provided by businesses for their staff, and
public transport passes provided by businesses to help staff get to and from work.

“Tax breaks for businesses who choose electric cars provide a major cash incentive to switch to a clean, efficient fleet, cutting the upfront cost of an electric car by up to 36 percent, with further savings over the life of the car,” Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said.

“We’ll also give tax breaks to companies who provide their staff with public transport passes instead of free carparks.

“By dramatically increasing the number of new electric cars in New Zealand, we’ll pave the way for a large second-hand market for electric cars, putting clean cars within almost everyone’s reach in just a few years.

“We’re targeting businesses because businesses buy most of the new cars in New Zealand and then sell them second-hand to families and individuals after 3-5 years.

“In Government, we’ll take the lead and transition the Government’s own vehicle fleet to electric cars.

“Cleaner and more efficient transport is a key part of cutting our climate pollution, because 20 percent of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions are from transport and our road traffic intensity is fourth worst in the OECD.

“More than 75 percent of New Zealand’s electricity comes from local, clean sources which we could be using to get around, but currently we import over $6 billion worth of oil and petrol.

“By accelerating the transition to electric cars, we’ll save people money and help businesses be part of the solution to climate pollution,” said Ms Genter.

Fringe benefit tax is a tax on non-cash benefits that employees receive as a part of their salary package, such as cars or health insurance. Cars are taxed at either 20 percent of their cost price or 36 percent of their book (depreciated) value.

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