Registering a motorhome in France in 2026
The mini calculator works out your motorhome’s regional tax from its horsepower, your region and the year it was first registered.
Registration of a motorhome
Motorhome registration
€553.76
| Y1 | €540.00 |
| Y4 + Y5 | €13.76 |
Used motorhome, VASP category on the certificate.
In France a motorhome, or camping-car, is registered under the national category VASP, meaning specialised motor vehicle, shown in box J.1 of the registration certificate (the carte grise). That label matters for tax. The French tax code leaves special-purpose M1 vehicles that are not wheelchair accessible out of its definition of passenger cars, so a new or imported motorhome pays neither the CO₂ malus nor the weight malus, however large its diesel engine or its mass. Nor does it pay the Y2 transport vehicle tax, which is reserved for vans and trucks. What remains is the regional tax, worked out as for a car: fiscal horsepower times the rate of the region where you live, halved once the first registration is ten years old. In Brittany, a 9 CV motorhome first registered in 2020 costs €553.76 to register; the same model from 2012 costs €283.76.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Why the VASP label matters
Box J.1 shows the vehicle’s national category. A motorhome carries VASP there, usually with the body type “autocaravane”. For tax purposes this category takes the vehicle out of the passenger car class, which is why no malus is due on first registration in France, while a car of the same weight would owe thousands of euros in weight malus.
The cost, line by line
A motorhome’s certificate has only three charges: the regional tax, a flat €11 management tax and €2.76 to post the card. In Brittany, where a fiscal horsepower costs €60 on 20 October 2026, a 9 CV model comes out as follows.
| Motorhome | Regional tax | Fixed tax and fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 CV, 2020 | €540 | €13.76 | €553.76 |
| 9 CV, 2012 | €270 | €13.76 | €283.76 |
| 9 CV, new, imported | €540 | €13.76 | €553.76 |
A resident of the Paris region would pay €634.76 for the same 2020 motorhome, because the Île-de-France Mobilités surcharge is added to the regional rate.
Buying a motorhome abroad
The absence of malus also covers imports, which is why many buyers look in Germany or Belgium. VAT is the point to watch: a motorhome delivered within 6 months of first use, or with no more than 6,000 km, counts as a new means of transport and French VAT of 20 % is due in France under article 298 sexies of the General Tax Code. Older vehicles still need a quitus fiscal, the French tax clearance certificate, before they can be registered. The steps are on the EU import page.
What the mini calculator leaves unchanged
It asks for the gross weight in box F.2 only to confirm that no Y2 tax applies, so that figure never moves the result. The full rate, then half at ten years, is the rule the State simulator applies to VASP vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. You apply free of charge on the ANTS website, the agency that issues French registration certificates, and pay only the taxes; an approved professional can file it for a service fee. For a van still registered as a van, the van page gives the Y2 amount.