Since January 1, a general taxation regime for electric vehicles has come into effect in Ukraine: when importing and selling "green" cars, value added tax is again charged at the full rate of 20%.
In a live conversation (with the participation of Stanislav Buchatsky, head of the Institute for Automotive Market Research), we noted an important thing: for the market, this was not a “January 1st surprise”. According to Stanislav Buchatsky, the price reaction began in the summer of 2025, when it became clear that the extension of the preferential VAT regime would not take place, and the market began to react to this. As a result, as of the beginning of 2026, prices in the segment of both used and new electric cars had actually already “contained” this +20%.
However, the "arithmetic" increase in price is only half the story. The second half is the imbalance of supply and demand that formed in the final part of 2025. According to Buchatsky, in December 2025 alone, more than 30 thousand electric cars were brought to Ukraine — a record figure for the domestic car market. And this number, as he emphasizes, is much larger than what the market actually needs.
That is why in the coming months (estimated from three months to six months) prices will fluctuate: someone will need to sell the car quickly — and then they will have to significantly lower the price; others will try to "hold" the margin and wait. The benchmark for returning to more predictable pricing is March-April 2026.
How much does it cost to clear customs for an electric car in 2026?
One of the most common myths that we had to debunk on the air: supposedly "full" customs clearance for electric vehicles will return from January 1. In fact, as the expert said, the change only applies to VAT. Other components of customs payments for electric vehicles continue to remain the softest on the market.
Zero import duty for electric vehicles is enshrined in legislation as a permanent norm in the Law on the Customs Tariff of Ukraine (commodity subcategory 8703 90 10 10), where the import duty rate is set at 0.
As a result, the logic of payments when importing an electric vehicle in 2026 looks like this:
- VAT: 20% of customs value
- Import duty: 0% for electric vehicles (equipped exclusively with electric engines, i.e. not hybrids).
- Excise duty: minimum — 1 euro per 1 kWh of battery capacity (in practice it is 30–100 euros).
- Pension Fund fee upon first registration: none for electric vehicles (which saves several more percent of the cost of the car compared to other segments).
That is why Buchatskyʼs thesis sounds unambiguous: even after the VAT refund, electric vehicles remain the most "loyal" category in terms of import taxation, when compared to internal combustion engines and hybrids (where there is both a duty and a potentially much higher excise tax).
A money example: what “+20%” means in practice
To remove the abstractness, a simple example was given on the air. If an electric car costs $10,000 abroad, then previously, during import, in fact, only excise duty (conditionally a few dozen euros) plus administrative costs for registration were paid. Now, another $2,000 in VAT is added to this base — that is, the same 20% of the cost.
An important nuance, which was also emphasized by Buchatsky: VAT is calculated from the customs value, and the customs value is not only the “price abroad”, but also the cost of purchase and delivery, confirmed by documents. For some destinations (in particular, where the “price is transparent”), this cost is more predictable. However, for some cars from Europe, according to the speaker, in practice, customs can determine the customs value using their own methods, and then the actual price increase may be more than 20% of the “real” purchase price.
What about statistics: a record 2025 and a cautious forecast for 2026
A separate block of conversation is “what we have in numbers” and where it is heading.
According to Stanislav Buchatsky:
- In 2025 , 84 thousand used electric vehicles were imported and registered in Ukraine, of which more than 30 thousand were imported in December ;
- new electric vehicles (first registrations) — 22 thousand per year;
- In total, there are currently over 250 thousand electric vehicles in Ukraine;
- If we consider the share of electric vehicles in the total fleet, then, according to his estimate, it is approximately 2-4%.
The forecast for 2026 is cautious and consists of two parts:
- in the first half of the year — a noticeable drop in imports (20–40%), adjusted for "overcrowded warehouses" after the December peak;
- then — stabilization by the middle of the year and the segmentʼs return to the usual average market indicators.
So what will happen to the market, imports, and prices?
In the end, it is important to record the main conclusion from the conversation: VAT refund is noticeable for the price (especially psychologically), but not critical for the existence of the segment.
Firstly, because the market reacted to the upcoming changes back in the summer of 2025 and partially built them into price lists in advance. Secondly, even with VAT, electric vehicles remain the most profitable category in terms of total import payments. And thirdly, according to Buchatsky, lower demand from Ukraine may even “pull” prices abroad down — and this will partially compensate for the tax for the end buyer.
The VAT refund on electric vehicles should not directly "spill over" to internal combustion engine prices — these are different segments with different import and demand economics.
