news

before editing:at present, the domestic automobile industry is in a new stage of transformation and upgrading towards electrification and intelligence, and it is also a critical period for moving towards high-quality development. the latest data shows that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles has exceeded 50% in august this year. however, under the wave of electrification, most car companies are losing money to gain publicity. the number of companies has dropped sharply, industry profits have fallen, industrial chain transformation has lagged behind, talent supply and demand have mismatched, and international trade barriers have increased... these potential risks such as profits, taxes, employment, and internationalization caused by the conversion of new and old kinetic energy have begun to emerge, and have even affected the economic development of some regions. these issues have attracted the attention of the entire industry, and the "cold thinking under the conversion of new and old kinetic energy" series of reports will be deeply analyzed from multiple dimensions.

recently, the hainan provincial department of transportation issued the "guidance on the highway mileage fee collection system", the core content of which is "using beidou navigation technology to collect corresponding fees from each vehicle based on mileage." if this guidance is implemented, it means that new energy vehicles will also have to pay "road maintenance fees" in the future.

the latest data shows that in august, sales of new energy vehicles reached 1.1 million, a year-on-year increase of 30%; by the end of june 2024, the number of new energy vehicles in china will reach 24.72 million. in the face of the rapid growth of new energy vehicles and the huge number of vehicles in use, automobile-related taxes have been significantly reduced, such as fuel surcharges, resulting in a huge gap in highway maintenance funds in many places.

the reduction and exemption policies have been extended for many times with unprecedented strength    

for the purchase of traditional fuel vehicles, consumers need to pay vehicle value-added tax, vehicle consumption tax, vehicle purchase tax and vehicle and vessel use tax. among them, value-added tax and consumption tax are generally included in the price of the car. because this tax is borne by the automobile companies, consumers need to pay 10% vehicle purchase tax and varying vehicle and vessel use taxes.

since vehicle and vessel tax is a local tax, the collection standards in different regions are also different. take the price of vehicle and vessel tax in guangdong as an example: the vehicle and vessel tax for cars with a displacement of 1.0 liters or less is 180 yuan; the vehicle and vessel tax for cars with a displacement of 1.0 liters to 1.6 liters (including 1.6 liters) is 360 yuan; the vehicle and vessel tax for cars with a displacement of 1.6 liters to 2.0 liters (including 2.0 liters) is 420 yuan. generally, the larger the displacement, the higher the tax.

purchase tax is the biggest tax at present. since 2014, my country has reduced or exempted purchase tax for new energy vehicles five times. the first time was from september 1, 2014 to the end of 2017, when pure electric vehicles, qualified plug-in (including extended-range) hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles that were licensed to be sold (including imported) in china were exempted from vehicle purchase tax.

since then, the national level has continued this policy in 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2023. among them, the tax exemption scale in 2023 exceeded 115 billion yuan.

according to the latest policy, new energy passenger vehicles will be exempted from vehicle purchase tax from january 1, 2024 to december 31, 2025, which means that they will continue to be exempted in the first two years, but a tax exemption limit of 30,000 yuan will be set; from january 1, 2026 to december 31, 2027, the vehicle purchase tax will be halved, and in the next two years, the tax exemption limit will also be set at 30,000 yuan. relevant departments estimate that the total amount of vehicle purchase tax exemption from 2024 to 2027 will reach 520 billion yuan.

current tax systemnot suitable for electric vehicles    

the automobile industry chain is long, covers a wide range, and has extensive industrial correlations. it has fully played the role of a pillar industry in boosting domestic demand and increasing tax revenue, and provided a rich source of tax revenue.

fang haifeng believes that from the perspective of taxation, the entire taxation system is currently designed based on fuel vehicles and is no longer suitable for the rapid development of new energy vehicles. for pure electric passenger cars, which currently have the largest sales volume, in addition to the vehicle purchase tax concessions, pure electric passenger cars do not need to pay the corresponding consumption tax, vehicle and vessel tax, and refined oil consumption tax and other major taxes.

according to relevant policies, on the one hand, pure electric passenger cars do not have engines or cylinders, so they are not subject to consumption tax and vehicle and vessel tax. on the other hand, because electric vehicles do not use traditional fuel during driving, they do not need to pay consumption tax on refined oil indirectly. however, with the rapid growth of the scale and ownership of new energy vehicles, it is expected that the loss gap of automobile tax revenue will continue to expand in the future. in the long run, it will affect the stability of the country's fiscal revenue. at present, major industries and corporate executives are calling for "equal rights for oil and electricity", mainly for the fairness of tax policies.

imposing tax on electric vehicles is an inevitable trend.cui dongshu, secretary general of the passenger car market information joint branch of the china automobile dealers associationhe said that at present, the purchase tax for traditional fuel vehicles is 10%, the consumption tax levied based on engine displacement is as high as 40%, and the consumption tax on refined oil is levied at 1.52 yuan per liter of refined oil, as well as other normal taxes. these are all contributions of the automobile industry to economic development and national taxation. in the future, after the number of fuel vehicles shrinks sharply, the gap in national tax revenue will still need the support of the electric vehicle tax system. taxation of electric vehicles during the purchase and use stages, and even at the scrapping stage, is an inevitable trend. "one liter of oil, half a liter of tax. fuel vehicle users pay 1 trillion yuan in taxes to the state each year, which is almost equivalent to personal income tax, while new energy vehicle owners pay basically no taxes."

large gap in road maintenance feeshainan eats crabs first    

in fact, from industry insiders to private users, the call for "equal rights for oil and electricity" is growing louder, so that fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles can enjoy equal market treatment in terms of market access, tax policies, car purchase subsidies, and charging facility construction, thereby eliminating inequality in market competition, creating a more fair and competitive business environment, and allowing consumers to purchase various cars more rationally.

industry insiders pointed out that the current privileges of new energy vehicles are all policies and guidelines formulated by my country in the early days to support the development of new energy vehicles, and the policies have been adjusted according to the development and changes of the market. in recent years, the new energy vehicle industry chain has been gradually improved, and new energy vehicles have a certain blood-making ability. implementing the same rights for oil and electricity is the trend direction, and the first thing to bear the brunt is to make fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles bear the same tax obligations.

especially when the market share of new energy vehicles exceeds 50%, many fuel vehicle owners strongly call for the collection of road maintenance fees for new energy vehicles. hainan province recently issued the "guiding opinions on the highway mileage fee collection system", becoming the first province in the country to take the lead. some industry insiders believe that hainan's leading action may be the intention of the national level to pilot hainan, which is an exploration of the tax adjustment of new energy vehicles. if the pilot is successful, it may be rolled out across the country, and then gradually bring fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles to the same starting line at the tax level.

"road maintenance fees" are mainly used for the construction, repair and maintenance of my country's highways. in 2009, the country abolished the "road maintenance fees" and replaced them with "fuel surcharges", which have continued to this day. however, with the intensification of the electrification transformation, new energy vehicles are becoming more and more popular, and fewer and fewer people buy fuel vehicles, so the "fuel surcharge" revenue has decreased, and the financial pressure on highway construction, repair and maintenance has also increased.

earlier this year, the highway research institute of the ministry of transport published an article titled “reflections on the maintenance period toll system for expressways”, which pointed out that “at present, the maintenance funding gap for ordinary highways in china is about 50%, and more than 40% of ordinary highways are in a maintenance dilemma. the maintenance funding gap will continue to expand in the future”. data released by the zhejiang provincial department of transportation also showed that by the end of 2023, the maintenance funding gap for ordinary provincial highways in the province will be around 1.5 billion yuan.

oil and electricity equal rightswill it weaken the advantages of new energy vehicles?    

of course, there are also many people in the industry who believe that it is too early to talk about "equal rights for oil and electricity" now.li jinyong, former vice president of the all-china federation of industry and commerce automobile dealers chamber of commerce and chairman of the new energy vehicle committeefirst of all, the car purchase tax itself is worth discussing. car purchase tax is a tax levied on units and individuals who purchase specified vehicles in my country. it evolved from the vehicle purchase surcharge. in the 1980s, under the background of material scarcity, the state set up a special fee to strictly control the purchasing power of social groups, govern the economic environment, rectify the economic order, ease the contradiction between market supply and demand, correct and stop various chaotic phenomena in the circulation field, and balance the fiscal budget. it is no longer suitable for the current social environment. in other words, the purchase tax of fuel vehicles can also be considered to be cancelled.

secondly, according to the latest policy on vehicle purchase tax exemptions for new energy vehicles, starting from january 1, 2026, the purchase tax for new energy vehicles will be reduced by half, and the purchase tax discount for new energy vehicles will be cancelled one day. this means that the policy has set a future of "equal rights for oil and electricity."

at the same time, the number of fuel vehicles has increased faster than the rate at which fuel vehicles are scrapped, so the total amount of fuel surcharge has not decreased. from the perspective of newly purchased vehicles, new energy vehicles do not contribute to purchase tax, but compared with the total base of 400 million vehicles, the number of less than 30 million is still negligible. what's more, many new energy vehicles are sold to overseas markets in the form of second-hand cars.

if we want to vigorously develop the new energy vehicle industry, the state must provide certain support. some consumers have expressed the following view: "if there is no tax reduction and road rights for new energy vehicles, their appeal will be greatly reduced, and i may not buy new energy vehicles."

li jinyong further pointed out that most new energy vehicle companies have not yet achieved profitability, but chinese new energy vehicles have already gained certain competitiveness in the international market. recently, the united states, the european union and other countries have imposed tariffs on chinese new energy vehicles in order to hit the good development momentum of chinese new energy vehicles and weaken their competitiveness. it is inappropriate to promote "equal rights for oil and electricity" at this time.

"the development of new energy vehicles in china is in good shape. from the national perspective, we should help the industry get on the right track and then give it a boost so that the industry can move forward steadily," said li jinyong.