Traffic Motor vehicle tax in Geneva causes frowns and anger

For many owners of old cars, the bill for the motor vehicle tax for 2025 is likely to have caused a shock. For some, the costs will rise by more than 500 percent.

This was first reported by the newspapers "Léman Bleu" and the "Tribune de Genève". The Geneva section of the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) said on Tuesday that it had received numerous calls from worried people.

For some of the population, it is financially difficult to cope with such a blow, which comes at the end of the year. "The calls mainly come from people from the lower middle class or pensioners whose cars are more than 15 years old," Yves Gerber, director of the Geneva section of the TCS, told the Keystone-SDA news agency.

The reason for the bill shock is a cantonal law that was approved in a referendum in March of this year. It was a counter-proposal to an SVP initiative that had called for the vehicle tax to be halved.

Tax based on CO2 emissions

The new rules subject electric or hydrogen vehicles to taxation based on unladen weight. Vehicles with combustion engines, on the other hand, will be taxed according to their CO2 emissions. This puts owners of classic cars at a severe disadvantage, regardless of engine capacity.

For example, the tax on a VW Polo with a petrol engine from 2001 will rise from 210 francs to 750 francs. This amount is made up of the annual tax of 120 francs and a CO2 surcharge of 630 francs. The invoice states that the total amount is due on December 31 at the latest.

For the owner of a petrol-powered Citroën Evasion from 1998, which emits 252 grams of CO2 per kilometer, the bill is even higher. According to the TCS, the tax for the family van has risen from 297 francs to 2100 francs.

SDA