Saint Lucians looking to reduce their fuel and electricity bills by purchasing hybrid or fully electric vehicles or installing renewable energy systems are set to benefit from significant government tax concessions aimed at encouraging the transition to cleaner energy.
The Ministry of Infrastructure says the incentives are designed to reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels while making renewable energy technologies more affordable for households and businesses.
Energy Officer at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Shurman Francis, explained that the concessions cover both hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as renewable energy systems such as solar panels and battery storage.
“We have given concessions for the purchase of hybrid and electric vehicles and also that for renewable energy systems,” Francis said.
He explained that hybrid and fully electric vehicles reduce reliance on traditional petrol and diesel engines by operating primarily on electricity.
“For hybrid and electric vehicles, they are run on electricity really. You have a battery that stores energy and you are using this. So that means automatically you are reducing your dependence on the fossil fuel, the ICE engine, internal combustion engine that propels the vehicle. So your vehicle is propelled by electricity.”
Francis said the government has introduced substantially reduced import duties through Cabinet Conclusion 1.105 of 2025.
“Government has given concessions for the importation of these hybrid and electric vehicles where through Cabinet Conclusion 1.105 of 2025, you have the reduced import duties where you get as low as five per cent import duties on these vehicles.”
He noted that while the concessions are offered across different categories of vehicles, the lowest applicable import duty is five per cent.
“There are different tiers, but the lowest one will be five per cent. There is another tier for 10 per cent and there’s one for five per cent. So the lowest tier will be five per cent where you can actually buy a vehicle and you pay five per cent import duties.”
Francis added that owners of fully electric vehicles can realize even greater savings by pairing their vehicles with renewable energy systems at home.
“When you have your electric vehicle, I’m talking about the full electric vehicle, if you have renewable energy to charge your vehicle, you have your solar panels installed, you have the battery storage, you have this to charge your vehicle, that is further savings,” he said.
“So you are not paying the high price of electricity to charge your vehicle. So therefore you are not paying for charging your vehicle and not paying for driving your vehicle already because it’s done by electricity.”
The Energy Officer also highlighted tax incentives available for renewable energy equipment, saying government has removed several taxes to lower installation costs.
“Renewable energy systems, government has introduced no VAT, no import duties, no HSL tax on the importation of these systems,” Francis said.
He explained that Cabinet Conclusion 969 of 2020 removed import duties, while additional measures have eliminated Value Added Tax and the Health and Security Levy.
“With Cabinet Conclusion 969 of 2020, import duties is zero, you don’t pay any import duties. And like I mentioned a while ago, we have gone further to introduce Cabinet Statutory Instrument 155, which allows for the VAT off of the systems and the HSL off on the systems.”
According to Francis, removing these taxes has made renewable energy technology significantly more accessible.
“With no VAT, no import duties, no HSL, the systems are a lot cheaper and more affordable for the ordinary man.”
The concessions form part of the government’s broader strategy to promote renewable energy adoption, lower household energy costs and reduce Saint Lucia’s dependence on imported fossil fuels.