In the Netherlands every car is registered by one national body, the RDW (Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer), which keeps the vehicle register. The registration number, the kenteken, stays with the car for life, and the registration certificate, the kentekenbewijs, is a credit-card-sized kentekencard. Changing the owner is quick and cheap: €13.10, often done online in minutes, and it also moves the annual road tax to the new holder.
Buying a new car
A new car bought from a Dutch dealer is registered by the dealer, and the BPM, the one-off registration tax, is already in the price. You receive the kentekencard by post, in two parts: the card itself and a letter with the tenaamstellingscode, the code you will need to sell the car one day. Keep the two apart.
Buying a used car in the Netherlands
A change of owner is called overschrijven. It can be done:
- online, with DigiD, the kentekencard and the full tenaamstellingscode. It does not work with the old paper documents
- at a kentekenloket, an RDW counter or an inspection station
- by the dealer, when you buy from a business recognised by the RDW, which does the transfer for you
The fee is €13.10. The seller receives a vrijwaringsbewijs (proof of indemnity), which shows the car is no longer in their name, and you receive a new kentekencard. From that moment the car must have at least third-party (WA) insurance in your name, and the motorrijtuigenbelasting is billed to you; the car tax guide covers both taxes. No BPM is paid again, whatever the car's age.
Bringing a car in from another EU country
- Have it inspected by the RDW. It identifies the car and checks it against its approval: identification costs €58.50 for a car of up to 3,500 kg, and a control inspection €42.00.
- File the BPM return online with the Belastingdienst. The BPM is due when the car is registered, reduced for its age; a new car bought privately abroad also pays Dutch VAT.
- Register it. The kentekenbewijs costs €50.00, putting it in your name €13.10, and the recycling fee €22.50.
What you will need
- For a transfer: the kentekencard and its tenaamstellingscode, and DigiD to do it online
- Insurance for the car from the moment it is in your name
- For an import: the foreign registration certificate, the certificate of conformity and proof of purchase
The digital kentekenbewijs
The RDW is testing a digital registration certificate, but it has no legal value yet, and the law is not expected to change before 2028. Until then the kentekencard is the document.
Periodic inspection (APK)
The APK (algemene periodieke keuring) is counted from the car's first registration:
- Petrol and electric: first at 4 years, then at 6 and 8, then every year
- Diesel and LPG: first at 3 years, then every year
- 30 years or older: every 2 years
- 50 years or older: no APK
A car can be tested up to two months early without losing its expiry date.