Yes Fab, our tax system is structured in such a way that it's very attractive for a business owner to buy a green car like the Karma or for an executive to lease one.
- As a business owner you cannot only get back the VAT-tax (19%), but you can write off the car for 175% (!) in just two years time. With an effective tax rate of 40% that means I am effectively paying for my Karma what a private person pays for a Ford Focus. I also don't have to pay road taxes for the next two years.
- As an executive leasing a Karma you have to add 14% of the value of the car to your income every year (and pay taxes on that, usually at a rate of 52%). For a Porsche Panamera or even BMW5 or Audi A6 you yearly have to add 25% to your income. So that make the Karma a very interesting car to lease. For a car like the Opel Ampera or Tesla Model S it will actually be 0%. That's because they emit less than 50 grams of CO2 per kilometer. The Karma scored 51 grams in the European test, so it missed the mark by just 2 grams. If it would have made it, they would easily sell hundreds more (150 have already een ordered). Fisker of The Netherlands are rumoured to be looking at the possibilty of selling a Karma with smaller wheels (the 21 inch winter rims might already do the trick) to shave those 2 grams off.