When you buy a car, you tend to look at its price that is roughly displayed, thinking that it is the only expense to plan. However, the purchase does not stop there. Between taxes, registration, insurance and maintenance, the invoice can quickly increase. Without forgetting certain specific taxes which can increase the budget according to the chosen model. So many elements to take into account before signing, under penalty of unpleasant surprises. This is what awaits those who plan to buy a new vehicle from March 1, 2025.
Indeed, the French government has decided to strengthen a tax concerning the majority of new cars. Adopted on February 6, 2025 in the Senate, this measure appears in the finance bill for the coming year. This is the ecological ecological ecotax. Concretely, what is it? The ecological penalty is a tax applied to new vehicles in France which emit far too many Co₂. The more a car polluted, the higher the amount of the penalty. This ecotax is added to the purchase price and can represent several thousand euros for the most gourmet fuel vehicles.
In March therefore and until December 31, 2025, this tax will be increased: the basic amount will start at 50 euros and will increase with each gram of Co₂ in addition, up to a maximum ceiling of 70,000 euros for cars which exceed 192 g of co₂ per km. Knowing also that the trigger threshold will be lowered to 113 g/km, against 118 currently. And that’s not all!
In the coming years, the ecological penalty scale will be hardened to reach up to 80,000 euros for cars emitting more than 191 g/km in 2026, and in 2027 this will increase to 90,000 euros for vehicles exceeding 189 g of Co₂ per km. In the long term, the objective of this tax is to encourage consumers to buy less polluting models, such as electric or hybrid cars, and to reduce the environmental impact of the car fleet.
