a) MRB ( Motorrijtuigenbelasting ), is the vehicle tax for cars in the Netherlands. You pay this tax when you have a car or other vehicle in your name.

Motor vehicle tax based on fuel, emissions and weight The car tax rate depends on:

• The fuel;
• Emissions (CO 2 emissions and particulate matter);
• The weight of the vehicle.

You pay the mrb monthly or quarterly. You pay from the date the car registration is registered in your name.

b) BPM ( Belasting van personenauto’s en motorrijwielen ), is the Tax on Passenger Cars and Motor Vehicles, which is charged once for each car registered in the Netherlands, that is, if you buy or import a car in the Netherlands.

You pay bpm in the following cases:

• You have a registered or re-registered motor vehicle in the vehicle registration registry.
• You have a delivery van converted to a passenger car.
• You live in the Netherlands and use a car or motorbike with a foreign license plate
• When with your delivery van you no longer comply with the entrepreneurial regime, nor with the disabled regime.
• When you no longer comply with the regulations for transport by taxi or public transport.
• You have a loan, rental or lease car with foreign registration.
• After tuning, your motor vehicle has higher CO2 emissions.

c) RDW ( Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer ), is the Department of Road Transport and has important tasks from the Dutch government:

• Admission: Allow vehicles and vehicle parts on the Dutch and European market.
• Supervision and control: Supervision of companies recognized by the RDW.
• Verification of the technical condition of the vehicles.

If you reside in the Netherlands and own a motor vehicle (car, van, motorcycle, trailer or truck), you must pay vehicle tax (MRB).

You choose if you pay the circulation tax monthly or quarterly. You have the option to have the tax debited or deducted directly from your bank account.

The cost of the vehicle tax (MRB) varies according to the type of car you buy, the province where you reside, the type of fuel that the car uses, for example diesel, gasoline, etc. and the weight of the car. Added all these characteristics, is that the vehicle tax is calculated.

You can calculate the vehicle tax yourself , you must have the car registration certificate on hand

On the following page you can automatically calculate the vehicle tax MRB ( Motorrijtuigenbelasting ):

https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/auto-en-vervoer/content/hulpmiddel-motorrijtuigenbelasting-berekenen

For the amount of CO2

If you have a car with a CO2 emission of 0 grams per kilometer, then you do not pay any vehicle tax.

If you have a car with CO2 emissions from 1 to 50 grams per kilometer, then half the rate applies. This means that you pay half the rate of a normal car.

Old cars

The antique vehicle exemption applies to all cars that were first put into use at least 40 years ago. This exemption also applies to trucks and buses, if you don’t use them commercially.

Other exemptions

You can request an exemption for a car series for example:

• A truck or bus that was first put into use at least 40 years ago and is not used for commercial purposes
• A car, delivery van, or motorcycle that was first put into use at least 40 years ago.
• police vehicles
• Motorized fire vehicles
• An ambulance
• a hearse
• an animal ambulance
• a garbage truck
• a vacuum car
• a sweeper car,
• Motor vehicles for road construction and maintenance

No, in that case you don’t have to pay MRB ( Motorrijtuigenbelasting ) vehicle tax. Cars that save on fuel are exempt from said tax payment.

Yes, in this case you do pay taxes but only half the vehicle tax (MRB).

If you are a resident of the Netherlands and have a car that has a foreign license plate, you must register your vehicle in the Netherlands and pay vehicle tax (MRB), although there are some exceptions for foreign registration, please review the following questions.

You must pay the personal vehicle and motor vehicle tax called BMP ( Belasting van Personenauto’s en Motorrijtuigen ), if you buy a new passenger car, motorcycle, delivery van in the Netherlands, or import a car from abroad.

Yes, but before you can file a BPM return, you must identify or have the car, truck, or motorcycle inspected at an RDW inspection station.

You may qualify for the following exemptions for your motor vehicle with a foreign registration:

• employee exemption
• Employer Exemption
• Exemption for short-term use in the Netherlands
• Exemption based on international law
• Your country of residence is also important when we assess whether you qualify for an exemption. For a number of exemptions, you must live or be established in the Netherlands. For other exemptions, you must live or be established outside of the Netherlands.

If your employer is based abroad, you live in the Netherlands, and your employer also provides you with a car with a foreign registration number, you may be eligible for the employee exemption. To do this you must make a request.

You are eligible for the employee exemption if you meet the following conditions:

• Only you or your family members living in your house use the motor vehicle in the Netherlands.
• Your foreign employer declares in writing: that he has made the car available to you and that you mainly use the car for your work outside the Netherlands.

If you use your foreign-registered car in the Netherlands and you also live in the Netherlands, then you qualify for the employer exemption if you hold 1 of the following positions abroad:

• Head of a sole proprietorship
• member of a society
• Director, partner or shareholder of a company

You can apply for the employer exemption if you meet the following conditions:

• Only you or your family members living in your household use the motor vehicle in the Netherlands.
• You mainly use the motor vehicle (at least 50%) for business outside the Netherlands. You can prove it with your kilometer record. Commercial use outside the Netherlands is assessed per calendar year. The kilometers you travel to commute between your place of residence and your place of work outside the Netherlands are not included.
• You are not an employee of your own company.

If you use your foreign-registered car in the Netherlands, only for a short period (maximum 2 weeks and you live in the Netherlands, then you are eligible for an exemption from bpm and motor vehicle tax for short-term use in the Netherlands.

Fully electric cars do not pay vehicle taxes. This tax benefit for electric cars applies until 2024. The Dutch government wants to encourage fully electric driving. Because fully electric driving contributes to improving the climate and the environment.

If you have bought a car in the Netherlands, the importer will file a declaration and pay the BMP on your behalf. Once the BPM declaration has been submitted and the BPM tax has been paid, you must make an inspection appointment with the RDW, the organization that registers all motor vehicles and driver’s licenses in the Netherlands, which will issue the registration documents for your vehicle. After this, you can use your passenger car or motorcycle on public roads.

If you are buying a car in the Netherlands, the importer makes a declaration and pays the bpm for you. After that, your car or motorcycle will receive a registration number from the RDW and you will be able to use your car on public roads.

In the following situations, you must file a return and pay the bpm :

• You buy a car abroad and want to drive it on public roads in the Netherlands.
• He buys a delivery van abroad and wants to drive it on public roads in the Netherlands.
• If you meet the conditions of the entrepreneur regime, you do not have to pay bpm .
• You are converting a motor vehicle, such as a delivery van, into a passenger car and want to drive it on public roads in the Netherlands.
• You use a foreign-registered passenger car, motorcycle or delivery van on public roads in the Netherlands.
• You use a foreign-registered car, motorcycle or delivery van on public roads in the Netherlands, whether borrowed or rented. And the term mentioned in the rental or lease contract does not exceed 4 years. So you only pay bpm during the rental or lease period.
• In the 3 years after the entry in the vehicle registration register, you have brought the engine of your car in such a state that the CO2 emissions are higher than the CO2 emissions on which the tax has been paid.

a) Removal exemption:

• bpm exemption permit when driving within the EU

If you move to the Netherlands from another country in the European Union and you do not have to pay VAT or import duties when importing your car, delivery van or motorcycle.

With this permit you must submit a complete GMP statement, but you do not have to pay GMP. You do pay the MRB tax.

• Import declaration before Customs

You move from a country outside the EU to the Netherlands and you do not have to pay VAT or import duties when you import your passenger car, delivery van or motorcycle.

After importation, you can apply for a Dutch registration number for your motor vehicle. You must submit a complete bpm statement , but you do not have to pay bpm . You pay motor vehicle tax

b) Exemption for employees

bpm exemption permit application , the following conditions must be met:

• You are an employee of a company established abroad.
• With this permit, you can use a foreign-registered motor vehicle in the Netherlands.

c) Employer Exemption

To apply for an employer’s bpm exemption permit, you must meet the following conditions:

• You are the employer of a company established abroad.
• With this permit, you can use a foreign-registered motor vehicle in the Netherlands.

d) Exemption when moving abroad

To apply for the exemption permit when moving abroad, you must meet the following conditions:

• You must request exemption from import duties, VAT and bpm for the purchase of a new motor vehicle.

e) Exemption for temporary stay in the Netherlands

• For the application for exemption for a temporary stay in the Netherlands
• You must request exemption from import duties, VAT and bpm for the purchase of a new motor vehicle.

f) Exemption for transporting a wheelchair in the cargo area of a delivery van

• For the exemption request for transporting a wheelchair in the cargo area of a delivery van
• With this exemption you do not pay bpm if you only transport a wheelchair as cargo. This only applies to delivery vans prior to July 1, 2005.

g) Exemptions for short-term use of a car or motorcycle in the Netherlands

• With this exemption, you can drive in the Netherlands for a maximum of 2 weeks with a motor vehicle with a foreign registration number available to you abroad.
• You can only get 2 weeks of exemption per applicant (including family members living in the household) once a year for the same car or motorcycle.
• Apply for this exemption before entering the Netherlands with a car or motorcycle with a foreign registration number.

h) Scheme of the entrepreneur

• If you are an entrepreneur and have a delivery van, you are typically eligible for the bpm entrepreneur plan . It is not necessary to apply for the business regime. You must file a tax return if you do not meet (for longer) the conditions.

Third-party car insurance is required by law in the Netherlands and means legal liability.

That insurance covers for all the damages you cause to others. Therefore, damage to your own car is not insured unless you take out comprehensive insurance which tends to be more expensive than regular insurance.

Different organizations sell these insurances and even some banks also sell them.

Car insurance premiums in the Netherlands are higher than in Spain.

If you have some type of accident with your car where you are responsible, the auto insurance premium in the Netherlands tends to increase much more .

Sometimes it is necessary to have your car inspected at RDW. For example, if you have modified your car, if you want to import a car into the Netherlands or if you need a damage inspection. In these cases you must make an appointment to inspect your car.

You must have the printed one-day registration certificate with you, if you drive a car without a (valid) Dutch registration number to the inspection station of the RDW. You can also place the registration certificate (as an add-on) in the RDW vehicle application.

If you are an entrepreneur and have a delivery van, then you may be eligible for an exemption from bpm on the basis of the entrepreneur scheme.

Which are the requirements:

• You are an entrepreneur according to article 7 of the Turnover Tax Act of 1968 (with the exception of entrepreneurship which arises from the sixth paragraph).
• You use the delivery van for more than 10% for your company.

However you still have to pay bpm if:

• If you convert the delivery van to a passenger car
• Sell a delivery van less than 5 years old to a private individual
• the company closes

If you use the delivery van for less than 10% of the kilometers traveled per year for the company, then you are not allowed to use the entrepreneur scheme and you pay bpm for your delivery van. If you sell the delivery van to another employer, you can make use of the transfer scheme ( doorschuifregeling ).

If you no longer comply with the entrepreneur scheme, then submit the bpm declaration and pay the bpm within 1 month after the change.