Let’s get right down to it, the top 5 most expensive road tax in Peninsular Malaysia (privately owned):

1.    Bugatti Chiron 8.0L – RM 24,630

2.    Rolls-Royce Phantom/Bentley Mulsanne 6.75L – RM 19,005

3.    Rolls-Royce Ghost 6.6L – RM 18,330

4.    Lamborghini Aventador/Ferrari 812 6.5L – RM 17,880

5.    Bentley Continental GT 6.0L – RM 15,630

Private owners of Bugatti Chiron in Malaysia (if any) are virtually buying a manual Perodua Axia every year to have its road tax renewed.

So how exactly did the Chiron arrive at this figure? We’ll go through briefly on the Malaysian road tax structure, specifically on private registration.

There are 2 categories – Saloon cars and non-saloon cars. Saloon cars include sedan, hatchback, coupe, wagon, and convertible while non-saloon cars are MPV, SUV, Pick-up truck and van.

For saloon cars, base rate starts at RM 20 for engines at 1,000 cubic centimeters (cc) or below, RM 55 for 1,001 cc to 1,200cc, RM 70 for 1,201 cc to 1,400 cc, RM 90 for 1,401 cc to 1,600.

From there the rates become progressive and for every increase in one cc, there is a certain amount fixed increasing in tandem on top of the base rate. For example, the base rate for 2,000 cc is RM 380 and the progressive rate is RM 1 per cc, a 2,500 cc engine road tax would cost RM 880 annually.

The progressive rate peaks at 3,000 cc and above, which is RM 4.50 per cc from the base rate of 3,000 cc at RM 2,130. To answer the earlier question, the Chiron has an 8,000 cc (7,993 to be exact but we’ll round it up to 8,000 for easier calculation) engine, take 5,000 multiplied by 4.5 and we have 22,500, add that to the base 2,130 and we’ll get RM 24,630.

Non-saloon cars have different base rates and progressive rates. And the progressive rate also peaks at 3,000 cc but at just RM 1.60 per cc with a base rate of RM 1,640. 

Here’s the funny thing, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan with its 6.75L costs “just” RM 7,640 annually to renew its road tax compared to the Phantom’s RM 19,005. What a bargain.