Pedal hard for the transition. T o accelerate the ecological transition, we have to put our hands in the wallet. Or to offer advantages to the actors of the sectors which favors it. This is why the Ministers of Economy and Finance of the 27 European countries adopted, on December 7, 2021, a VAT reform . As a reminder, value added tax (VAT) "  is a consumption tax that applies to almost all goods and services bought and sold for use or consumption in the EU  ". However, each member country sets its own rates, which cannot be lower than 15% (in France, it is generally at 20%).

The reform allows Member States to set reduced rates (either between 5% and 15%, or between 0% and 5%) for certain products and services, in particular those which facilitate the ecological and digital transition. There are different sectors that may be affected by reduced VAT: health (sanitary tampons, masks, etc.), culture (press, books, cinema, etc.), digital (internet access provider, etc.) ) or transport. And among all the products and services, there is one that intends to take advantage of this decline: the electric bicycle, which has been booming since the health crisis.

EU member states will now be able to apply reduced VAT rates on both conventional bicycles and e-bikes, following an agreement by the Council of Europehttps://t.co/j39NRFeTmk

— APPGCW (@allpartycycling) December 9, 2021

Will VAE be able to benefit from a very reduced rate, or even zero? Yes, it is a possibility. Thanks to CONEBI (Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry) and ECF (European Cyclist Federation), which had initiated discussions with the governments of the Member States, the latter agreed to include “  the manufacture, rental and bicycle repair to the list of goods on which reduced VAT rates can be applied, explicitly including electric bicycles  ” , we read in this press release .

That is to say that if this text, which must first be examined by the European Parliament, is adopted, then the States will be able to put in place reduced rates of VAT for the cycling sector as a whole. But that does not mean that the game is won in advance, and that France will apply a reduction for cycling. The French government will in any case have the possibility to do so, but the electric bicycle should not be the only means of transport to want to take advantage of these new tax advantages.