If you intend to travel around the Netherlands by car, you should be interested in the issue of the country's taxes for drivers. They apply to all car users, and avoiding them can lead to unpleasant consequences. In the past we have already touched on the topic of road tax, and from today's post you will learn what is BPM in the Netherlands.
BMP tax Netherlands - what is it?
Belasting van auto's en motorrijwielen (BPM) is a fee, which we can freely translate into your language as car tax. The BPM is paid as a one-time fee and applies primarily to cars registered in the Netherlands. If you buy a car in this country, this fee is automatically included in the transaction price. If you come to the Netherlands by car, you must register the vehicle, in which case you will also be charged this tribute.
How to avoid paying BMP in the Netherlands?
In certain cases defined by law, you can get an exemption from paying road taxes in the Netherlands. However, you must meet clearly defined conditions and submit an application to the authority.
If you plan to use the car for no more than 2 weeks, you should inform the office, and the office should waive the obligation to pay BMP. Also, if you have employment with a foreign company or if you own your own business, you can apply for tax exemption. You can apply if:
- you, as an employee, have a company vehicle with foreign license plates provided by your employer from a company registered outside the Netherlands;
- you are the owner of such a company and own a company car with foreign registration numbers.
In the event that you move to the Netherlands and take the car you own with you, chances are, it will be classified as so-called "resettlement property," and will thus be exempt from BMP tax. To count on this, you must meet all of the following conditions:
- you move permanently from abroad to the Netherlands, and you can confirm this with a document in the form of checking out from abroad and registering in the Netherlands,
- you have lived outside the Netherlands for a minimum of 12 months before moving to the tulip country (confirmed by an insurance policy, bank account number and an agreement to buy or rent an apartment abroad),
- the car you intend to import was purchased a minimum of 6 months before moving to the Netherlands and was used by you.
How to calculate BMP tax in the Netherlands
You need to know that the amount of BMP for new cars depends mainly on the carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The amount of CO2 produced is the most important factor when determining the one-time fee, so the better the quality of the exhaust, the lower the cost we can expect.
It is not possible to give a specific amount you will have to pay, because everything depends on the specifications of the car in question, so each case must be treated individually.
Can you count on a BPM Netherlands tax refund?
You are probably wondering how to recover BPM from the Netherlands? Is there such a possibility and how much money do you stand a chance of receiving? When you decide to leave the country, you should report to the office as soon as you deregister your car. This is because you have the right to apply for a partial refund of the BPM from the Netherlands. However, certain conditions apply:
- the car must not be older than 15 years, it must be accident-free and in full working order,
- the car must be deregistered from the RDW, thus gaining "export" status,
- the vehicle must be registered in another EU country,
- you must apply for a BPM refund no later than 13 weeks from the date the vehicle is deregistered from the WFD.
If you decide to move permanently to the Netherlands, you will face a lot of paperwork to register the car and costs related to BPM and MRB road taxes. If you take up employment, you'll also be faced with filing your annual tax return - so it's worth reaching out for help and using our Dutch tax settlement app Aangifte.
