deductibility · company · taxation
Company car deductibility in 2026: the phase-out that changes everything
Ordered before or after July 2023? The phase-out cuts deductibility to 50% in 2026, 25% in 2027 and 0% in 2028. The impact on your TCO, in figures.
Since the reform of company car taxation, two strictly identical vehicles can be treated in radically different ways for tax purposes. Only one variable matters: the order date. Ordered before or after 1 July 2023, before or after 2027 for an electric car — that is what decides whether your car expenses remain deductible or melt away to zero. Here is how it works, with figures to back it up.
A two-speed system#
Tax deductibility applies, for corporate income tax, to all car expenses: depreciation, maintenance, energy, insurance and operating lease payments. Since the reform, it depends on the vehicle's order date:
- Ordered before 1 July 2023: "grandfathered" regime — the old CO2 table applies, for life.
- Ordered between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2025 (combustion engine or plug-in hybrid): phase-out — the rate falls every tax year, down to zero.
- Ordered from 1 January 2026 (combustion engine or plug-in hybrid): 0% deductibility, from the very first year.
- Electric: 100% for orders up to the end of 2026, then a sliding rate fixed by the year of order.
Orders between July 2023 and the end of 2025: the countdown#
For a combustion-engine car or a PHEV ordered between 1 July 2023 and 31 December 2025, the deductibility rate is applied tax year by tax year, over the whole period of ownership:
| Tax year | Deductibility |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Standard CO2 table |
| 2025 | 75% |
| 2026 | 50% |
| 2027 | 25% |
| 2028 and after | 0% |
The key point: this is not a rate fixed at purchase, but a rate that deteriorates while you own the vehicle. A combustion-engine car ordered in 2024 and kept for five years will not be deductible at all for more than half of its tax life.
For an order placed since 1 January 2026, there is no countdown any more: a combustion-engine car or a PHEV is no longer deductible at all in a company.
Two points that are often overlooked. First, in a company, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) follow exactly the same rules as pure combustion-engine cars. A self-employed person trading as a sole trader, on the other hand, benefits from a specific PHEV regime (Act of 18 December 2025): up to 100% for a model emitting no more than 50 g of CO2/km ordered in 2026, 95% in 2027, then a ceiling that falls to 0% for orders from 2030. Fuel is no longer deductible under that regime; only charging is. Second, the rate applies to all vehicle-related costs — including operating lease payments and fuel. Opting for a renting contract therefore offers no protection whatsoever against the phase-out: the deductible lease payment melts away at the same pace as the depreciation on a purchase.
Orders before July 2023: the grandfathered regime#
Vehicles ordered before 1 July 2023 keep the standard CO2 table, with no time limit:
| CO2 (g/km) | Deductibility |
|---|---|
| 0 to 50 | 100% |
| 51 to 75 | 95% |
| 76 to 100 | 90% |
| 101 to 125 | 80% |
| 126 to 150 | 75% |
| 151 to 175 | 70% |
| 176 to 200 | 60% |
| Over 200 | 50% |
This explains why a 2022 diesel can remain more attractive for tax purposes than an identical recent model: its rate no longer changes.
Electric cars: 100% today, sliding for orders from 2027#
A fully electric vehicle ordered before 2027 is 100% deductible for its entire life. For later orders, the rate is fixed once and for all according to the year of order:
| Year of order | Deductibility (for life) |
|---|---|
| Up to 2026 | 100% |
| 2027 | 95% |
| 2028 | 90% |
| 2029 | 82.5% |
| 2030 | 75% |
| 2031 and after | 67.5% |
A major difference from the combustion-engine phase-out: for an EV, the rate is fixed at the time of order and never changes. Ordering an electric car in 2026 therefore locks in 100% deductibility — a concrete reason not to wait.
The impact on total cost of ownership (TCO), in figures#
Take a diesel emitting 130 g/km that generates €10,000 of deductible costs a year (depreciation, maintenance, fuel), owned from 2026 to 2030 by a company taxed at 25%.
| Year | Ordered in June 2023 (grandfathered, 75%) | Ordered in January 2024 (phase-out) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | €1,875 tax saving | 50%: €1,250 |
| 2027 | €1,875 | 25%: €625 |
| 2028 | €1,875 | 0%: €0 |
| 2029 | €1,875 | €0 |
| 2030 | €1,875 | €0 |
| 5-year total | €9,375 | €1,875 |
Seven months' difference in the order date, and €7,500 of tax shield gone over five years — for the same vehicle, the same use, the same company. Note that financing interest and the NSSO CO2 contribution remain 100% deductible in both cases.
Why the order date is THE critical field#
In a serious TCO calculation, the order date is not an administrative detail: it selects the tax regime, and the right rate for each year of ownership. That is why AutoCalcul treats it as a field in its own right and recalculates deductibility year by year rather than applying a single percentage. For a new vehicle, the catalogue gives the TCO of each model with today's order date; to compare a grandfathered combustion-engine car with an electric one, the comparison tool puts the two tax shields side by side. Before signing an order form — or taking over a used vehicle whose history you do not know — check this parameter: it can be worth several thousand euros.
Tax rules change — check the legislation in force.