The costliest mistake with the EV premium
Many prospective buyers immediately wave off the new EV subsidy: "I earn more than 60,000 euros, so there's nothing for me." In most cases that is a fallacy. Because the premium's income limits do not refer to the gross salary but to taxable income — and that is a completely different, significantly smaller figure.
Those who know this difference often find they are eligible after all, or even receive the full income bonus. You check this fastest with the <a href="/en/ev-premium-calculator">EV premium calculator</a>: enter your taxable income — not your gross — and you immediately see whether and how much subsidy is possible.
What is taxable income?
Taxable income (zvE for short) is the assessment basis for your income tax. It arises at the end of a multi-stage calculation that the tax office carries out with the tax return. Put simply: from the gross wage, various amounts are gradually deducted until the zvE remains. Exactly this figure is then subject to the tax rate.
The most important deductible items are work-related expenses (such as commuting costs, work equipment, training), special expenses (for example retirement provision contributions, donations, church tax), extraordinary burdens as well as various allowances. For families, the child allowance is added, provided it is more favourable than child benefit.
How big is the difference from gross?
As a rough rule of thumb, taxable income is often around 20 to 30 percent below the gross annual salary. The exact gap depends heavily on the individual situation — on social security contributions, marital status and how consistently deductible expenses are claimed.
An example for orientation: an employee with a gross annual salary of 70,000 euros often ends up, after deducting provision expenses, work-related expenses and allowances, with a taxable income of around 50,000 euros. That would be not only below the eligibility limit of 80,000 euros but even below the 60,000-euro threshold for the full income bonus — even though the gross seemed too high at first glance.
The two thresholds of the premium
Two limits of taxable income are decisive for the subsidy. The first is 60,000 euros: if you stay below it, there is the income bonus of 1,000 euros on top. The second is the eligibility limit of 80,000 euros, which rises by 5,000 euros per child under 18 (maximum two children, i.e. up to 90,000 euros). Anyone above that is excluded from the subsidy.
Both thresholds refer to the same zvE. It therefore pays doubly to know your own figure precisely instead of calculating with gross.
Where do I find my zvE?
You read the exact value off your last income tax assessment. There the line "taxable income" is explicitly stated. If you do not yet have a current assessment, you can estimate the value with tax software or a gross-net approach. It is important that for the premium calculator you use this figure and not the gross salary from the employment contract.
Using allowances deliberately
Anyone just above one of the thresholds can, under certain circumstances, slip below it with legal arrangements. Higher payments into retirement provision, consistently claiming work-related expenses or special expenses lower taxable income. Such decisions should, however, never be made solely because of a premium — they must also otherwise fit your financial planning. When in doubt, a tax adviser can help.
Conclusion
Do not be fooled by your gross salary. For the EV premium only taxable income counts, which is usually significantly lower. Check your actual value on the tax assessment and enter it into the <a href="/en/ev-premium-calculator">premium calculator</a> — the chance that you get more subsidy than expected is greater than many assume.