You have to feel sorry for some people.
A few days ago I posted on a Facebook group that the malus tax, a Co2 emissions related tax assessed on cars at first registration in France, had been extended to include 5 seater pick-up trucks.
This has been on the cards for about a year & was delayed for 6 months due to the gilets jaunes, I believe.
One of the group’s members got in touch to ask if it applied to them with their 3 litre 3 year old truck that they had been meaning to register for the past few months.
Unfortunately, as there are no ski resorts in the Charente Maritime, it does. Just a note here - pick-ups used exclusively for use on ski runs & resorts are exempt.
As a result of the delay the amount of the registration tax increased from just over 500 euros to almost 5300 euros.
The warnings were given & ironically if they had followed the regulations - notifying the tax office within 15 days if the vehicle’s arrival & applying for french registration within 30 days - they would have saved enough to buy a very decent second car!
As it is they are seriously thinking of taking it back to the UK & selling it there. I hope that they were equally remiss in sending off the V5c export notification…
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Wow, that’s a hefty fee - (glad there is a dispensation for ski resorts etc.)
There are many folk who do not go through the necessary when they bring a vehicle to France. Sometimes it is laziness, sometimes not… 
Just shows how delaying the registration procedure (for whatever reason) can have a costly outcome. 
Those that don’t comply with the rules usually get their ‘come uppance’ in the end.
Now totally confused… we are currently planning to bring
a) 1993 Saab 900 classic convertible
b) used 2010 Subaru outback
from the UK to France. If these kinds of taxes apply to our ‘old’ cars
it might not make any sense to keep them.
how does one work out all the taxes applicable.
The malus tax is charged on engine power, Co2 output & age. On something like a 2017 3 litre diesel Discovery you would pay a malus of 8000 euros on top of the registration tax, but if it was a 2010 car that drops to 160 euros.
You need to know the Fiscal horsepower (puissance fiscale) which is very different to the actual HP figure on your V5c. In the example above the horsepower is 256 but the fiscal hp is 17. Putting the wrong figure could cause you to have a fit!
This is the government simulateur which allows you to check the cost before applying - https://www.service-public.fr/simulateur/calcul/cout-certificat-immatriculation#main
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Thank you Mark. We checked the Saab - and had a fit. Hopefully can find out the correct puissance fiscale for both cars. Is there a conversion formula?
For info we recently psi 170 euros of taxes for the Carte gris to import a 2006 Honda CRV 2.2 diesel.
Also this guy ^^^^^^^^^^^ @anon90504988 was a fantastic help getting our car registered.
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Probably worth pointing out that said simulator uses the French system of numerical notation where a comma (,) is used where a point(.) would be used in the UK. Combine this with the fact that they show the cost to 3 decimal places of a Euro (goodness knows why), and the result of the simulation can be quite frightening.
I’ve just done a simulation for our vehicle and the cost of re registration on change of ownership comes to 558 Euros and 76 cents, which in the French format of 558,760 € looks very alarming indeed.
In fairness the simulator does then show the sum to be paid as 558,76 € but the use of the comma in place of the point could still be confusing to the untrained eye.
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I’ll dig out the paperwork on the Saab. Subaru Outback is one of the cars we are thinking of buying, 2 ltr. diesel, 167mpg CO2, from 2010 onwards,
Getting quite exciting now. Exchanging contracts on the house imminent.
A 2010 example registered in the Dordogne would be 450.76.
A 2014 model of the same car would be 1134.76 despite a smaller fiscal power & Co2 figure.
A 2018 model, 1786.76.
Thank you Mark,
it clarifies the choices immensely.
Chris was almost ready to sell his Saab when we first tried the check/calculateur…
shall now buy an everyday car that might be a little older.
The Saab should not be more than a couple of hundred euros…
The Saab is coming, so is the lease car for a few months.
Keeping a UK address for insurance etc, and return the
lease when due. Gives us enough time to settle and check the
local Garages for a suitable car. Phew - so many things to consider