Car bonus, fast start for electric cars: incentives already exhausted

The reservations concern the purchase, including through leasing, of vehicles made from 25 May 2024, the date of entry into force of the Prime Minister's Decree of 20 May that reshuffled the old incentives and allocated the endowment of 950 million. And until 31 December 2024.

In particular, in a notice published on the platform, Mimit specified that dealers can book incentives for cars and those for commercial vehicles, motorbikes, scooters, tricycles and light quadricycles from 10am on 3 June. On the other hand, with regard to the purchase of cars to be used for taxi or rental service with driver (with contributions doubled for those who win the extraordinary competition for the issue of new taxi licences and those who replace the service car) and the incentive for the installation of LPG and methane systems on cars, the dates and procedures for booking will be announced in a later notice.

As of 10 a.m. on 3 June, dealers can therefore enter the vehicle purchase order data, including an indication of the down payment made, and receive, subject to the availability of resources, a booking receipt. The dealer acknowledges the contribution to the buyer as a discount and is then reimbursed by the manufacturer or importer. The latter will recover the sum as a tax credit. In all, the Dpcm puts 950 million into circulation for the various incentives. The reservation must be finalised, with registration, within 270 days. On the platform one can download the form with the declaration of acknowledgement of the retention of ownership of the purchased vehicle for at least 12 months in the case of natural persons and for at least 24 months for legal persons. Also available for commercial vehicles are the form for the declaration in lieu of affidavit concerning the possession of SME requirements and the form for the certification concerning the exercise of the activity of transport of goods on one's own account or on behalf of third parties. Lastly, the website also contains the form for the substitutive declaration made by the purchaser attesting to the Isee value of the family nucleus of less than 30,000 euro, which is necessary if the 25 per cent surcharge is to be applied.

The new version of the ecobonus - which is also open to legal persons - is based on higher amounts for those who scrap older, and thus more polluting, cars and choose a new electrically powered vehicle. Then, progressively, the values go down. The contribution range, for cars, goes from 1,500 to 11,000 euro, which can be increased by 25% if the buyer's household has an Isee of less than 30,000 euro.

In the absence of scrapping, there is a contribution of 6 thousand euro in the 0-20 bracket, 4 thousand in the 21-60 bracket, while there is no bonus in the third emission category. The amount rises progressively if the car is scrapped, depending on how old and therefore polluting the vehicle is. Scrapping a Euro 4 will qualify for 9,000 euros in the 0-20 bracket, 5,500 in the 21-60 bracket and 1,500 in the 61-135 bracket. With a Euro 3 you go to 10 thousand euros, 6 thousand and 2 thousand euros. With a Euro 0, 1 or 2 there is a jump to Euro 11 thousand, Euro 8 thousand and Euro 3 thousand respectively. For all these incentives there is a maximum price threshold for the model that can be purchased, excluding VAT, set at 35 thousand euro in the 0-20 and 61-135 emission bands and 45 thousand euro in the intermediate 21-60 band. In the case of the first two emission bands, a 25% surcharge is triggered for individual members of a family nucleus with an Isee under EUR 30,000, thus going up to EUR 13,500 for electric cars. For those on low incomes, there is also the possibility of scrapping a Euro 5 car and in this case the bonus is 8,000 euro in the 0-20 bracket and 5,000 in the 21-60 bracket. Used cars, Euro 6 cars with emissions up to 160g/km of CO2 and a price up to Euro 25 thousand are also subsidised: the incentive for purchasing them is Euro 2 thousand by scrapping a Euro 0 to Euro 4 vehicle. For non-electric models, up to Euro 5, the discount is instead 40% up to Euro 2,500, but only on condition that the seller offers an additional reduction of at least 5% and that a Euro 0 to Euro 3 vehicle is scrapped.

For motorbikes, scooters, tricycles and light electric quadricycles the contribution is instead 30% up to Euro 3 thousand. For non-electric models, up to Euro 5, the discount is 40% up to Euro 2,500, but only on condition that the seller offers an additional reduction of at least 5% and that a vehicle from Euro 0 to Euro 3 is scrapped (but the funds amount to only 5 million and are considered to be rapidly depleting). For commercial vehicles the bonus grid is more articulated, taking into account fuel, total ground mass and the presence or absence of a vehicle to be scrapped. They range from a minimum of one thousand euro (under 1.5 tonnes, endothermic engine with scrapping) to a maximum of 18 thousand euro (between 4.25 and 7.2 tonnes, electric or hydrogen with scrapping).

Whatever type of incentive one wishes to benefit from - cars, scooters, light commercial vehicles and in the case of both natural and legal persons - the vehicle handed in for scrapping must have been in the name of the person who owned the new vehicle for at least 12 months or, alternatively, one of his or her family members living with him or her at the date of purchase. In the case of leasing, the restriction applies to the lessee or one of his cohabiting family members.