Large Families, Buy a Powerful Combustion Car—The State Will Refund Your Bonus tâ Penalty!
This page is translated from the original post "Familles nombreuses, achetez une puissante voiture thermique, l’état vous rembourse le malus !" in French.

The 2025 Finance Act contains a measure that is already making headlines: an ecological penalty discount adapted for large families.
Indeed, households with at least three dependent children can benefit from a 20-gram reduction per kilometer on the CO2 emission rates used to calculate the penalty. This measure, applicable to only one vehicle with at least five seats, aims to make thermal cars more accessible.
In concrete terms, this reduction can make a difference when purchasing a vehicle for large, modest-income families. These families, often unable to invest in a more expensive electric car, can thus access a combustion engine vehicle without having to bear the usual ecological penalty. The idea itself is commendable since it addresses a practical need for these households, but in detail, it is a total absurdity — neither good nor bad!
A measure for the elites
Like any law, this one is not immune to misuse. Wealthy large families can exploit it to acquire powerful and polluting vehicles. Imagine a family with three children opting for a five-seat sports thermal car, equipped with a powerful engine and high CO2 emissions. Thanks to this discount, they could bypass the penalty and save a substantial amount, without any essential economic need being met.
For example, if the vehicle’s CO2 emission rate is 186 g/km, the penalty is set at 48,901 euros. You benefit from a CO2 penalty reduction of 20 g/km per child, so for 3 children, 60 g/km (3 x 20). The reduced CO2 emission rate is 126 g/km (186 – 60), which corresponds to a penalty of… 330 euros. Impressive, isn’t it? Do you think we deliberately chose an inaccessible sports sedan? Not at all, we chose a bright Skoda Kodiaq RS SUV with 265 horsepower! Perfect family car for low-income households, right?
To prevent such abuses, the article still sets some limits. For example, this discount is only available once every two years, preventing a clever parent from engaging in lucrative buy-sell and penalty laundering activities.
However, and this is completely incomprehensible, it is not an immediate reduction but a reimbursement that can only be obtained after registering the vehicle. Our poor low-income family is therefore required to pay the penalty upfront! Honestly, it’s madness.
In conclusion, this measure will not support modest families who would be better off searching for a used car rather than falling for new car marketing tricks. At least they will avoid immediate depreciation. Therefore, it only concerns the wealthier, capable of paying tens of thousands of euros in penalties, seeking a thermal gadget. And we will be the ones paying for this little luxury…
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