Talking about car ownership costs in Australia in our previous post made me remember an article about car taxation in the EU that I had once recommended writing about in my 9 to 5 job but never did due to office stupidity and bureaucracy (…). Since Carscoop’s a blog and in “blog-world”, less is more, I won’t go into an anal sort of detailed analysis. Instead, I’ll just pinpoint some interesting facts and let the info-sheets after the jump speak for themselves. *Note these are the latest facts we found on ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) and Eurostat. 
Taxes on ownership: While in most EU countries taxes on car ownership are based on engine capacity and horsepower, Denmark (probably the weirdest EU member when it comes to car duties) taxes fuel consumption and… weight! However, let’s say that there’s logic behind this combination, what about Hungary and Latvia that base ownership taxes solely on car weight? Estonia, France, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic weirdly enough don’t charge any passenger vehicle ownership taxes.
Taxes on acquisition (2.0-litre vehicle): By far, Denmark is the EU champion here; those petrol-sucking officials will add a stunning 155% on the factory price of a 2.0-litre engine car! Second up is new EU member Malta that charges a heart breaking 93% while Portugal takes the third place with 77% VAT & registration taxes. The best place to buy (as a resident) a 2.0-litre car in the E.U. is Luxembourg as its government adds a mere 15% to the factory price.
Fiscal Income from Motor Vehicles: Heap of stuff here. France: 60.6 million people and 36 million cars, busses, trucks and vans – € 7.7 billion in toll taxes. Italy: 55.8 million people and 39 million vehicles- €1.1 billion… At least in insurance taxes both countries were on the same level (FR: €4.1 billion, ΙΤ: € 4.3 billion). Denmark on the other hand, received €3.3 billion for insurance taxes. But wait, isn’t Denmark significantly smaller than France or Italy? Yes it is: population 5.5 million, vehicles in use: 2 million! –Continued: Click “Read More…” below
E.U. POPULATION & VEHICLES IN USE
