Car incentives: new ecobonus kicks off. 950 million in resources on track

The new eco-bonuses for cars, motorbikes and commercial vehicles are starting. After an exhausting wait, the Dpcm (decree of the president of the council of ministers) reshaping the previous incentives will, barring last-minute unforeseen events, be published in the Official Gazette on 25 May.

The Dpcm envisages that, as of its entry into force, and until 31 December 2024, contributions will be revised upwards to a maximum of €13,500 in the case of electric cars if the purchaser has an Isee of less than €30,000. Basically, purchases, including through leasing, made from the day of publication in the Gazzetta, can then be included among those that dealerships will upload onto the computerised reservation platform managed by Invitalia, an in-house company of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. The platform is still being implemented, but the ministry expects to make it operational on 3 June.

From that day on, dealers will have to enter the vehicle purchase order data, including an indication of the down payment made, and will 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 dealer or importer. The latter will recover the amount as a tax credit. In all, the Dpcm puts 950 million into circulation for the various incentives.

In the absence of collection, for cars 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 are also subsidised, Euro 6 with emissions up to 160g/km of CO2 and a price up to 25 thousand euro: the incentive to buy them is 2 thousand euro by scrapping a Euro 0 to Euro 4 vehicle.

For motorbikes, scooters, tricycles and electric quadricycles the contribution is instead 30% up to Euro 3 thousand. For non-electric models, up to Euro 5, there is a 40% discount up to Euro 2,500, but only on condition that the vendor offers an additional reduction of at least 5% and that a vehicle from Euro 0 to Euro 3 is scrapped. For commercial vehicles, the bonus grid is more articulated, taking into account fuel, total mass on the ground and the presence or absence of a vehicle to be scrapped. It ranges 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). This category of incentives, like that of cars, is open to both natural and legal persons.