Shipping your car to the Netherlands sounds simple until you discover it is not road-legal here yet, and that making it legal comes with a tax most newcomers have never heard of: BPM. Add an RDW inspection and a Dutch kenteken (registration), and the process has real costs and real Dutch vocabulary. Here is how to avoid the shock.
What BPM is
BPM (belasting van personenauto’s en motorrijwielen) is the Dutch tax on passenger cars and motorcycles. As the Belastingdienst sets out how to calculate BPM for a car, you owe it when you put a foreign vehicle onto a Dutch kenteken. The amount depends on three things:
- the car’s CO2 emissions,
- its build year, and
- its historic new price (the original list price when new).
The depreciation discount
The saving grace for used imports is afschrijving (depreciation). For a second-hand car you get a discount on the BPM that grows with the car’s age, calculated via the Belastingdienst’s depreciation table or a valuation method. The older the car, the bigger the discount, so the BPM owed falls over time.
Two exceptions matter most:
| Situation | BPM effect |
|---|---|
| Fully electric car | BPM exemption applies |
| Car older than 17.5 years | Exempt from BPM |
So a vintage car or an EV can dodge the tax entirely, while a newish petrol SUV can carry a hefty bill. Run the numbers with a BPM calculator before you buy or ship.
The other steps and costs
BPM is only one line. To get on Dutch plates you also need:
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| kenteken | registration / number plate |
| keuring (RDW) | inspection |
| inschrijven | to register (the vehicle) |
| tenaamstelling | putting the registration in your name |
| aangifte BPM | the BPM declaration |
The RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority) inspects the car to confirm it meets requirements, and there are keuringskosten (inspection costs) plus transport costs on top of the tax. Budget for the whole stack, not just the BPM.
Where it connects
A car in the Netherlands brings a chain of Dutch admin beyond the import. Your foreign licence may need converting, which we cover in the kennismigrant cheat sheet for converting your driving licence, and if you ever take the Dutch test, the CBR driving vocabulary helps. Once the car is yours, the running costs and traffic system arrive too, including the dreaded purple-letter speed fines from the CJIB. Keeping the car healthy then means the garage and APK lexicon, and if instead of importing you are weighing a lease through work, see the private-lease catch on a company car.
The bottom line
Importing a car to the Netherlands is not just shipping, it is BPM plus an RDW keuring plus a kenteken. BPM tracks CO2, build year, and original price, softened by an age-based afschrijving discount, with full exemptions for EVs and cars over 17.5 years. Learn the words BPM, kenteken, keuring, afschrijving, and inschrijven, estimate the tax before you commit, and budget the inspection and transport too. Do that and the only surprise left is how nice it is to finally drive your own car here.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, that teaches the precise vehicle-admin Dutch an import involves, BPM, kenteken, keuring, afschrijving, inschrijven by real situation in five-minute lessons, so you can handle the RDW and Belastingdienst steps confidently instead of being blindsided by the tax bill.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay BPM when I import a car into the Netherlands?
Usually yes. When you put a foreign car on a Dutch kenteken (registration), you owe BPM, the tax on passenger cars and motorcycles. The amount depends on the car’s CO2 emissions, build year and historic new price. For a used import you get a depreciation discount (afschrijving) that grows with the car’s age. Fully electric cars and vehicles older than 17.5 years are the main exceptions.
How is BPM calculated for an imported used car?
BPM starts from the car’s original characteristics (CO2, historic new price) and then a depreciation discount is applied based on age, using the Belastingdienst’s afschrijvingstabel (depreciation table) or a koerslijst/valuation report. The older the car, the higher the discount, so the BPM owed falls with age. You can estimate it with a BPM calculator before buying, then file the BPM declaration.
What else do I need besides BPM to register an imported car?
Three things beyond BPM: an RDW inspection (keuring) to confirm the car meets Dutch requirements, the registration itself to get a Dutch kenteken, and usually transport costs to get the car here. Plan for all of them. Words to know: kenteken (registration plate), keuring (inspection), inschrijven (to register), tenaamstelling (putting the registration in your name).
What is the best app to learn Dutch for importing and registering a car?
Learn Dutch For Expats, an app available on the App Store, is the best pick because it teaches the precise vehicle-admin Dutch an import involves, BPM, kenteken, keuring, afschrijving, inschrijven, in five-minute lessons, so you can handle the RDW and Belastingdienst steps confidently instead of being blindsided by the tax bill.
