Information about the BPM tax
Unlike many other EU countries, the Dutch government applies two kind of tax on a vehicle. The first being the regular sales tax (of 19%) and the second an additional luxury tax called BPM. This means Belasting van Personenauto’s en Motorrijwielen, which roughly translates into Tax on Passenger cars and Motorbikes.
This luxury tax is based on the net value of the vehicle, after which a financial compensation (both positive and negative) is applied, based on the CO2 emission of the vehicle. The CO2 emissions are of influence on each vehicle with a registration after 01-02-2008.
When importing a vehicle into The Netherlands, this luxury tax will have to be paid in most cases. The tax is different for new and used vehicles. For your convenience, we have produced two calculators, so that you can get a good indication of the amount of BPM tax which will have to be paid when importing a car.
BPM on a new vehicle
You can use our calculator for new vehicles to get an idea of the amount of BPM for a particular vehicle. You can find the calculator here. Please contact us for specific questions.
BPM on a used vehicle
On a used car, the remainder of the original total BPM amount will to be paid. There are multiple ways to caculate this amount howerver. The amount can be calculated using the following methods
- Depreciation according to the Dutch tax office fixed percentages
- Based on a professional valuation
- Based on the current wholesale purchase price (EU vehicles only)
We have developed a culculator, based on the standard depreciation methods used by the Dutch tax office. You can find this calculator here.
When you want to determine the exact amount of BPM which has to be paid, it is always best to contact us. Furthermore, it can very well be that in some cases, a BPM statement based on a valuation report or on the wholesale purchase price results in a lower amount of remaining BPM.
BPM amount on export vehicles
When a Dutch vehicle is exported, there are ways to get the remaining amount of luxury tax back, when exporting a vehicle. This makes exporting young Dutch vehicles (from 16th of October 2006) very lucrative. You can get an indication of the amount you can receive back from the Dutch tax office, using basically the same way as calculating the remaining amount on importing a used vehicle. Please view our Car Export Service for additional information.
Please feel free to contact us for additional information on the BPM tax.
