Vehicle tax

Vehicle tax in Netherlands

The Netherlands taxes a car twice. The BPM (belasting van personenauto's en motorrijwielen) is paid once, when a car is first registered in the Netherlands, new or imported used. A car already on Dutch plates has paid it, so buying one second-hand costs you no BPM and no transfer tax. The motorrijtuigenbelasting (MRB) is then paid for every three months the car is in your name: a national part, plus the provincial opcenten of the province you live in.

Buying a car already in the Netherlands

A car registered in the Netherlands never pays BPM again when it is resold. What you pay on top of the price depends on who sells:

  • A private seller charges no VAT
  • A dealer charges 21% VAT (btw) on the whole price, or sells under the margin scheme (margeregeling), with VAT on the dealer's margin only. A margin-scheme invoice says "bijzondere regeling - gebruikte goederen" and shows no VAT, and the buyer cannot deduct it

The BPM is part of a new car's price, but no VAT is charged on the BPM itself. Registering the car in your name costs €13.10 at the RDW; the registration guide explains how.

How the BPM is worked out

The BPM reads the car's CO₂ figure on WLTP, as the RDW holds it. Find the band the figure falls in, multiply the grams above the band's start by its rate, and add the band's fixed amount. The 2026 bands, the same for a new car and a used import:

  • 0–77 g/km: €687 + €2 per g/km
  • 77–100 g/km: €841 + €82 per g/km above 77
  • 100–139 g/km: €2,727 + €181 per g/km above 100
  • 139–155 g/km: €9,786 + €297 per g/km above 139
  • above 155 g/km: €14,538 + €594 per g/km above 155

A diesel pays a surcharge on top: €114.83 for each g/km above 69. A zero-emission car pays the fixed €687 (€667 in 2025; from mid-2020 to 2024 it paid nothing). A plug-in hybrid has had no tariff of its own since 1 January 2025 and pays on its CO₂ figure like any other car. When no CO₂ figure is known, the Belastingdienst uses a high default: 550 g/km for petrol and 395 g/km for diesel for a car first registered from July 2020.

The Belastingdienst's own example: a new car of 130 g/km pays (130 − 100) × €181 + €2,727 = €8,157. As a diesel it adds 61 × €114.83 = €7,004.63, a total of €15,161.63.

The BPM on a used import

A used car brought in from abroad pays the BPM when it is registered in the Netherlands, reduced for its age. A car counts as used from 3,000 km.

  • Which tariff: you may use any tariff in force from two months before the car's first registration (abroad or not) up to the RDW's approval, whichever is lowest. The current tariff needs a WLTP figure. WLTP tables run from 1 July 2020; a car first registered before then uses an older NEDC tariff, or a converted figure
  • Depreciation: the gross BPM, diesel surcharge included, is reduced by the car's depreciation. You pick the most favourable of three methods: the forfaitaire tabel (fixed table), a koerslijst (price guide) or a taxatierapport (valuation report), the last only for a car with more than normal damage or none in a price guide
  • Rounding: the amount due is rounded down to whole euros

The fixed table counts from the first registration to the RDW's approval. Each part month counts as a whole month:

  • First month: 12% a month
  • 1–3 months: 12%, plus 4% a month
  • 3–5 months: 20%, plus 3.5% a month
  • 5–9 months: 27%, plus 1.5% a month
  • 9 months to 1½ years: 33%, plus 1% a month
  • 1½–2½ years: 42%, plus 0.75% a month
  • 2½–3½ years: 51%, plus 0.5% a month
  • 3½–6½ years: 57%, 62% and 67% at the start of each year, plus 0.42% a month
  • 6½–9½ years: 72%, 75% and 78% at the start of each year, plus 0.25% a month
  • From 9½ years: 81%, plus 0.19% a month

The table reaches 100% at 17 years and 10 months, so an older car pays no BPM. The table is always the one in force at the RDW's approval, even when an older tariff sets the gross BPM.

Examples from the Belastingdienst

  • By price guide: a diesel first registered on 8 October 2024, with 100 g/km, approved by the RDW on 6 March 2026, depreciates 56.54% by its koerslijst value. On the 2024 tariff its CO₂ BPM is (100 − 80) × €76 + €600 = €2,120 and its diesel surcharge (100 − 71) × €106.07 = €3,076, a gross €5,196. It pays 43.46% of that, €2,258
  • By the fixed table: a petrol car first registered on 25 April 2025 and approved on 8 July 2026, just over 14 months later, depreciates 33% + 6 × 1% = 39%. At 110 g/km on the 2025 tariff its gross BPM is (110 − 101) × €173 + €2,563 = €4,120, so it pays 61% of that, €2,513

Bringing a car in from abroad

The BPM return is filed online with the Belastingdienst, and the car is inspected and registered by the RDW; the registration guide lists the steps and fees. A private buyer of a new car from another EU country, meaning in use for at most 6 months or driven at most 6,000 km, also declares and pays Dutch VAT of 21%.

The motorrijtuigenbelasting (MRB)

The MRB is billed per quarter (tijdvak of three months), and four quarters make the year. It reads only the car's weight, its fuel, and on a diesel its particulate emissions. Engine size, power, CO₂ and age do not count, except for the oldest cars.

  • Weight: since 1 July 2026 the tax reads the massa rijklaar, the empty weight plus 100 kg, rounded to the nearest 100 kg, with exactly 50 rounding down. The bands moved up 100 kg with it, so no one pays more
  • National part per quarter: €21.46 up to 600 kg, €29.12 at 700 kg, €37.00 at 800 kg, €48.30 at 900 kg, then €64.24 at 1,000 kg plus €17.27 for each 100 kg above, up to 3,300 kg
  • Fuel surcharge: none for petrol, electricity or hydrogen, so a petrol plug-in hybrid pays none. A diesel adds €153.00 at 1,000 kg plus €16.57 for each 100 kg above (€84.14 to €130.76 below 1,000 kg). LPG or natural gas from a factory-fitted or approved installation adds €19.05 from 900 kg, plus €19.05 per 100 kg; other fuels add more than diesel
  • Particulate surcharge (fijnstoftoeslag): a diesel emitting more than 5 mg/km of particulates pays 19% more on the national part and fuel surcharge. A diesel first registered before 1 September 2009 with no figure on the register, or with its particulate filter recorded as removed, pays it too
  • Electric and hydrogen cars pay 70% of a petrol car's tax in 2026, 2027 and 2028, 75% in 2029 and the full tax from 2030. A plug-in hybrid of 1–50 g/km has paid the full tax since 1 January 2026
  • Campers pay half
  • Old cars: a car first used 40 or more years ago pays nothing. A petrol car first used before 1988 and not driven in December, January or February can pay at most €158 a year, opcenten included
  • Rounding: the total, opcenten included, is rounded down to whole euros

The provincial opcenten

Each province adds its opcenten, a percentage of a fixed base that has not changed since 1995: €45.81 a quarter at 1,100 kg massa rijklaar, plus €11.68 for each 100 kg above (€14.50 to €34.12 below 1,100 kg). The fuel and particulate surcharges are left out of the base, and for an electric car it is cut to 70% as well. The province is the one you live in at the start of the quarter.

The 2026 rates, from north to south, with what a petrol car of 1,300 kg massa rijklaar pays a quarter in all:

  • Groningen: 95.7 opcenten, unchanged since 2024 — €182
  • Friesland (Fryslân): 92.1, unchanged — €179
  • Drenthe: 92.0, frozen since 2023 — €179
  • North Holland: 82.1, up from 77.4, and still the lowest — €172
  • Flevoland: 84.7, up from 83.9 — €174
  • Overijssel: 82.2, unchanged — €172
  • Utrecht: 86.4, up from 84.2 — €175
  • Gelderland: 98.3, down from 101.2, the only province to cut its rate — €184
  • South Holland: 104.4, up from 101.5, the highest — €188
  • North Brabant: 87.0, up from 84.9 — €176
  • Zeeland: 84.4, unchanged — €174
  • Limburg: 88.5, up from 85.8 — €177

The national maximum for 2026 is 143.9 opcenten. CBS still marks the 2026 rates as provisional.

Examples from the national rules

  • The Belastingdienst's example: a petrol car of 1,000 kg empty weight, so 1,100 kg massa rijklaar, pays €126 a quarter. The Belastingdienst does not name the province, but €81.51 + €45.81 × 98.3% = €126.54 matches Gelderland's rate
  • A diesel of 1,500 kg massa rijklaar, Euro 6, pays €150.59 + €235.85 + the opcenten: €483 a quarter in South Holland and €462 in North Holland. With the particulate surcharge it pays €556 in South Holland
  • An electric car of 1,800 kg pays 70% of €202.40 plus its opcenten: €234 a quarter in South Holland and €214 in North Holland

What you will need

  • The car's registration number (kenteken): the RDW register gives its CO₂ figure, fuel, empty weight, first registration date and particulate emissions
  • For a used import: the foreign registration document, a koerslijst value or a valuation report if you do not use the fixed table, and the certificate of conformity

Before you buy

A car on Dutch plates carries no BPM for you to pay, so its price already includes it. A used import is cheaper to bring in the older it is, and pays nothing at almost 18 years. The annual tax is mostly a matter of weight and fuel: a heavy diesel costs several times a light petrol car, and the province moves the bill by only a few euros a quarter.

The rates above are those in force in 2026; the MRB is indexed each 1 January.

References

Want the figures for a particular car? Use the tax calculator.