What changes for French car registration on 1 January 2027
The calculation compares the same new car registered in December 2026 and in January 2027, in the region you choose.
On 1 January 2027, three rules change for registering a new or imported car in France, plus one for Paris-region residents. The CO₂ malus, France’s one-off pollution tax on cars, starts at 103 g/km instead of 108, and its maximum rises from €80,000 to €90,000, reached above 189 g/km; every step of the scale costs more. The weight malus keeps its scale, but mild hybrids lose their 100 kg allowance. In Île-de-France, the Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge falls from €14 to €12 per fiscal horsepower, unless the transport authority votes a figure of up to €13. The depreciation applied to used imports gains a usage-based component whose wording could not yet be read. On 20 October 2026, no region had announced a new rate for 2027. In practice, a car facing a malus should be registered before 1 January 2027, and a malus-free car in the Paris region after it.
December 2026 or January 2027: the same new car
Difference by waiting for January 2027
€429
| December 2026 | €1,546.76 |
| January 2027 | €1,975.76 |
| of which malus, before then after | €1,050 → €1,493 |
Next year’s regional rates: those already voted, otherwise current rates.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
The timetable at a glance
- CO₂ malus: threshold lowered from 108 to 103 g/km, cap raised from €80,000 to €90,000.
- Weight malus: same scale, first taxed kilo at 1,500 kg; mild hybrids lose their allowance.
- Vehicles with eight seats or more owned by a company: the gram and horsepower allowance on the CO₂ malus goes up again, as it has every year since 2025.
- Paris-region surcharge: from €14 to €12 per horsepower, unless a vote sets up to €13.
- Used imports: depreciation made of an age part and a usage part.
- VAT on imports: moved into the code of taxes on goods and services.
- Regional rates: no change voted as of 20 October 2026.
The CO₂ malus shifts its whole scale
The article L421-62 scale has one column per year of first registration. The 2027 column starts 5 grams lower than the 2026 one, so a given emission level in 2027 costs what a car emitting 5 grams more paid in 2026. The €90,000 cap applies above 189 g/km. The 2027 version of the article is already published and contains no scale for later years.
| WLTP emissions | 2026 malus | 2027 malus | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 104 g/km | €0 | €75 | €75 |
| 108 g/km | €50 | €170 | €120 |
| 115 g/km | €210 | €310 | €100 |
| 125 g/km | €540 | €983 | €443 |
| 140 g/km | €2,205 | €3,119 | €914 |
| 160 g/km | €8,770 | €14,325 | €5,555 |
| 180 g/km | €45,990 | €61,245 | €15,255 |
| 189 g/km | €73,689 | €89,244 | €15,555 |
The scale is always the one for the date of first registration, as the official CO₂ malus page points out. A car ordered in October 2026 and registered on 4 January 2027 falls in the 2027 column. The joint cap on the two maluses follows suit: the weight malus stops where the total reaches €90,000 instead of €80,000.
The weight malus keeps its scale
No new weight scale is planned for 2027: the 2026 bands carry on, from €10 to €30 per kilo. The only change concerns mild hybrids, whose allowance drops from 100 kg to 0. Full hybrids keep 100 kg; plug-in hybrids with enough range keep theirs, capped at 15 % of the mass. Electric and hydrogen cars stay exempt from both maluses, with no end date in the current text. Band-by-band figures are on the weight malus page.
Six new cars, December 2026 against January 2027
The table works out the full registration cost of the same new car in Île-de-France, registered on 15 December 2026 and then on 15 January 2027. It therefore combines the smaller Paris-region surcharge with the higher maluses.
| New car | 15 December 2026 | 15 January 2027 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol city car, 4 CV, 106 g, 1,120 kg | €289.76 | €406.76 | +€117 |
| Petrol hatchback, 6 CV, 118 g, 1,340 kg | €687.76 | €815.76 | +€128 |
| Mild-hybrid SUV, 7 CV, 128 g, 1,560 kg | €1,314.76 | €2,368.76 | +€1,054 |
| Full-hybrid estate, 8 CV, 112 g, 1,690 kg | €1,625.76 | €1,699.76 | +€74 |
| Electric car, 6 CV, 0 g, 1,950 kg | €427.76 | €415.76 | -€12 |
| Petrol SUV, 11 CV, 176 g, 1,840 kg | €40,437.76 | €53,970.76 | +€13,533 |
The city car, below the threshold in 2026, becomes taxable in 2027. The mild hybrid takes both the higher CO₂ malus and the loss of its weight allowance. The electric car, exempt from both maluses, only sees the lower surcharge and gains by waiting for January. Outside the Paris region there is no such cut: the same electric car costs €373.76 in Brittany in December and €373.76 in January.
Île-de-France: the surcharge comes down
The Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge, created by article 60 of the 2026 Finance Act, is €14 per horsepower from 1 March 2026 to 31 December 2026, overriding the €13 ceiling written into article L421-54-1. From 1 January 2027 the default amount is €12. For a used 6 CV car under 10 years old, the certificate drops from €427.76 to €415.76. The surcharge follows the same reductions as the regional tax: half at 10 years, half for motorbikes. If the authority votes a higher figure, the saving will be smaller and the Île-de-France page will be updated.
Imports: depreciation in two parts
For a used car brought into France, the malus is reduced by a rate based on its age in months, set by article L421-7-2: from 3 % in the first month up to 100 % beyond 15 years. From 2027 that rate becomes the sum of this age part and a usage part defined in article L421-7-3, capped at 100 %. The text of that article could not be read at the source, so the calculator only uses the age part and its result for a 2027 import is a ceiling. The malus stays at zero for a car first registered before 1 January 2015. The steps are on the import from the EU page.
On VAT, the rule changes address without, so far, changing substance: on 1 January 2027 it leaves the General Tax Code, whose article 298 sexies defines a new means of transport (at most 6 months or 6,000 km), for the code of taxes on goods and services.
Register before or after 1 January?
- New car with a malus: before. Any combustion car from 103 g/km pays more in 2027, and so does a mild hybrid above the weight threshold.
- Electric car in Île-de-France: after. You save €2 per horsepower and face no malus.
- Car with no malus under either scale, such as a 4 CV petrol car at 102 g/km: no difference outside the Paris region, after inside it.
- Used car already registered in France: no malus at all. In Île-de-France, waiting for January saves €2 per horsepower, within the one-month window after purchase.
A used car must be re-registered within 1 month of purchase; beyond that, the fixed fine is €135. With a new car the dealer often registers it, so ask for the planned date. The calculator at the top compares December and January for your own car, with region, horsepower, CO₂ and mass; the full calculation link lets you try any other date.