France updates its bonus/malus tax system
Although the French Minister of Economy complained about the reduction in taxes when the bonus/malus system started in France, the whole scheme is only now getting some changes. How does the system work? When you purchase a car, you have to pay an additional tax (malus) if the car produces too much CO2, or you might get money back from the state (bonus) if it's below a certain amount.
The most important change is how it will affect large families. Since you can't really haul three children in a Renault Twingo, buying a minivan was a costly option with a significant malus. Well, the new change allows you to discount 20 g/km of CO2 from your new purchase for every child over the second one. For instance, if you have four children, you will be able to deduct 40 grams from the 179 a Ford Galaxy or the non-Bluemotion Sharan, and thus save the €1,000 from the malus payment. In the case of ethanol cars, the reduction is a direct 40 percent - which is the estimated reduction in total emissions when driving an E85-powered vehicle. However, these two new changes will only be in effect if the car produces under 250 g/km, so there's no hope for a gasoline-powered Chrysler minivan, for instance.
[Source: Le Blog Auto]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ale 3:34PM (11/02/2008)
"In the case of ethanol cars, the reduction is a direct 40 percent - which is the estimated reduction in total emissions when driving an E85-powered vehicle."
i love that estimate, id like to find out how in the ... they figured that out, if anything e85 puts more CO2 into the air, just not from the car itself.
i only mark this out, because some brainiac thinks its an awesome idea to use corn instead of something better...
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