In brief
On 15 April 2022, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) lapsed into law without being approved or vetoed by the President.
EVIDA will take effect 15 days following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. EVIDA published in the online Official Gazette on 16 April 2022.
The passage of EVIDA is in line with the country's policy to ensure its energy security and independence by reducing reliance on imported fuel for the transportation sector. The law is instrumental for the formulation of regulations to promote an environment for competitive, equitable and non-discriminatory private sector participation.
EVIDA introduces a Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (CREVI)
The law establishes the CREVI, which is a national development plan for the electric vehicle (EV) industry with an annual work plan to accelerate the development, commercialization and utilization of EVs in the country. The CREVI is comprised of four components, as follows:
· EVs and charging stations component;
· Manufacturing component;
· Research and development component; and
· Human resource development component.
Incentives under EVIDA
EVIDA provides the following fiscal incentives:
· The manufacture and assembly of EVs, charging stations, batteries and parts and components thereof shall undergo an evaluation process to determine its (i) inclusion in the strategic investment priority plan and (ii) possible entitlement to the incentives for the length of time as provided under the amendments introduced by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act or CREATE (R.A. No. 11534) to the Omnibus Investments Code of 1987 (Executive Order No. 226) and National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 (R.A. No. 8424).
· The importation of completely built EVs shall generally be entitled to incentives under the TRAIN Act (R.A. No. 10963).
· The importation of completely built charging stations shall be exempt from the payment of duties for eight years from the effectivity of EVIDA.
· The utilization of battery EVs and hybrid-EVs shall be entitled to a discount of 30% and 15%, respectively, from the payment of the motor vehicle user's charge, vehicle registration and inspection fee for eight years from the effectivity of EVIDA.
EVIDA also provides the following non-fiscal incentives:
· Priority registration, priority renewal of registration and issuance of a special type of vehicle plate.
· Exemption from the mandatory unified vehicular volume reduction program, number-coding scheme or other similar schemes implemented by different government agencies.
· Expeditious processing of applications and renewals for the franchise to operate public utility vehicles for operators that are exclusively utilizing EVs.
· Expeditious processing by the Bureau of Customs of the importations of EV manufacturers and importers.
· Permit for foreign nationals to be employ under technology transfer agreements, subject to the guidelines of the relevant government agencies.
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