Foreign registration and living in the Netherlands: the rules

You have just moved to the Netherlands for work or love, and your car is still on a German, Belgian or French registration outside your front door. Or you are a Dutch national, lived abroad for years and have returned — with the car you bought there. In both cases it feels logical: it is your car, properly insured and inspected in the country of origin. Yet from day one you are running a tax risk. The main rule in the Netherlands is strict: anyone who lives here is in principle not allowed to drive on the public road with a motor vehicle on a foreign registration. In this article we explain when you are obliged to have your car imported, which exemptions exist and what happens if you wait too long.

The main rule: residence determines everything

It is not the nationality of your car that matters, but your place of residence. As soon as you live in the Netherlands — in practice: as soon as you are registered in the Personal Records Database (BRP) or your actual main residence is here — a car at your disposal must be registered on Dutch plates. From the first use of a Dutch public road you then owe BPM (tax on passenger cars and motorcycles) and motor vehicle tax (mrb).

Note: the Dutch Tax Authority looks beyond just the BRP registration. Even without formal registration you can be considered a tax resident if your "normal place of residence" is in the Netherlands — broadly: you live here, work here and your personal life takes place here. Expats who think they can avoid the obligation by not (yet) registering are often caught out during a roadside check.

Conversely: anyone who does not live in the Netherlands may temporarily drive here with a valid foreign registration without any problem. For visitors and tourists this is permitted for up to six months. The tipping point is therefore the moment you transition from visitor to resident.

Also for Dutch nationals returning from abroad

A persistent misconception: these rules supposedly only apply to foreigners. Incorrect. Your Dutch passport is fiscally irrelevant — only your place of residence matters. If you are a Dutch national who lived in Spain, Germany or Switzerland, bought a car on local plates there, and are now settled in the Netherlands again, exactly the same obligation applies to you as to any expat: the car must be put on Dutch plates and BPM and motor vehicle tax are due, unless you arrange an exemption in time.

In practice we see returning residents who maintain the foreign registration through a postal address at family or a retained property abroad, and continue driving on the old plates for months or years. That is not a grey area, it is a ticking time bomb. The Tax Authority examines where your normal place of residence actually lies: where do you sleep, where do you work, where does your family go to school, where are you insured? An address card across the border changes nothing about that. Upon inspection, a retroactive assessment follows for the full period of use in the Netherlands — and for returning residents that period is often considerably longer than for expats, with a correspondingly higher bill.

The good news: returning Dutch nationals can also claim the relocation exemption, provided the conditions are met. Anyone who lived abroad for at least 12 months and had the car there for at least 6 months in their possession and use can in many cases bring the car back without BPM. But the clock is ticking: the application must be filed within 12 months of the return move. Anyone who lets that deadline pass pays in full.

What if you do nothing? Additional assessment and penalty — and what the courts think

If you drive on the public road as a resident of the Netherlands with a foreign-registered car without a valid exemption, you risk an additional assessment for BPM and motor vehicle tax, increased by a penalty. The BPM assessment on a relatively young car can run into thousands or tens of thousands of euros. Motor vehicle tax is moreover retroactively assessed. This is not a theoretical risk: automatic number plate recognition along the road makes checking foreign registrations of residents straightforward.

How strictly these rules are applied in practice is evident from the case law. Since the 2014 Tax Plan, the Tax Authority may retroactively assess motor vehicle tax for the entire period from the moment of BRP registration — or the moment you should have registered — until the date of discovery, with a maximum of five years, and on top of that impose a 100% default penalty. The Dutch Supreme Court expressly upheld this regime in two preliminary rulings of 5 April 2019 (ECLI:NL:HR:2019:482 and ECLI:NL:HR:2019:483): a retroactive assessment calculated over a maximum of five years does not constitute prohibited discrimination on grounds of nationality, and the 100% default penalty is in principle permissible, although the court must weigh all circumstances of the case. The Supreme Court also confirmed that it does not matter whether the foreign registration is in your name or someone else's: what matters is that the car is factually at your disposal. There is, however, a rebuttal option: if you can demonstrate that you only gained access to the car later, or did not have it at your disposal in the interim, the assessment period is shortened.

What this means in concrete terms is illustrated by a ruling of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal of 15 October 2019 (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2019:8440). A man living in the Netherlands regularly drove the German-registered Mercedes of his son. The court considered him the holder of the car, ruled that he had not furnished the required counter-evidence, and upheld a retroactive motor vehicle tax assessment of €12,901 plus a penalty of €5,278. Over €18,000 — for driving your own son's car. More recent case law confirms the line: anyone caught again with a foreign-registered car after an initial warning receives the BPM assessment after all (see for example Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant, ECLI:NL:RBZWB:2025:6863).

The main exemptions

Fortunately the law provides a number of escape routes — provided you apply for them in time and correctly.

1. The relocation exemption. This is the relevant scheme for most expats. If you bring your own car when moving to the Netherlands, you can under certain conditions obtain full exemption from BPM (and for moves from outside the EU also from VAT and import duties). The core conditions: you lived outside the Netherlands for at least 12 months before the move, you had the car there for at least 6 months in your possession and use, and the car belongs to your household effects and continues to be used for the same purpose. The exemption is applied for at the Belastingdienst (within the EU) or via an import declaration at Customs (from outside the EU), and within 12 months of the move. Important: if you sell, rent out or lend the car within 12 months of the exemption, you must pay the BPM after all. Even with an exemption: the car must go to the RDW for registration on Dutch plates, and motor vehicle tax remains due.

2. Short-term use exemption. If you live in the Netherlands and temporarily have a foreign-registered car at your disposal — for example a loaned car from family across the border — you can apply for an exemption from BPM and motor vehicle tax for a maximum of two consecutive weeks. Crucial: this notification must be made before you take to the road, not afterwards.

3. Employee and employer exemption. Do you live in the Netherlands but work for a foreign employer who provides you with a car on a foreign registration? An exemption may apply, provided the car is predominantly (70% or more) intended for work outside the Netherlands and the inspector has issued a prior positive ruling. A comparable scheme exists for entrepreneurs with a business across the border. Without a prior ruling there is no exemption — here too: arrange it first, then drive.

Timing is everything

The pattern in all schemes is the same: the exemption or declaration must be arranged before using a Dutch road as a resident. Anyone who drives around for months first and only takes action upon receiving a letter from the Tax Authority has already forfeited their negotiating position. Our advice to expats is therefore simple: start arranging the import or exemption as soon as the moving date is set, not after. Applying for a relocation exemption alone already takes several weeks, and the RDW inspection and registration also require planning.

Why this is specialist work

On paper the rules look straightforward. In practice things frequently go wrong on details: the proof of 6 months' possession and use, the question of what exactly your "normal place of residence" was, a leased car that is formally not your property, or a move from outside the EU where customs formalities and BPM declaration overlap. And if you do not qualify for an exemption, the question becomes how much BPM you owe — and it is precisely there that a proper appraisal or trade guide substantiation can often save significantly compared to the flat-rate depreciation table.

At PC Sports & Classics that expertise is in-house. Founder Paul Coenen, LL.M. is a tax lawyer who has specialised in vehicle taxation for many years: BPM, motor vehicle tax, import and export. Our expertise in precisely this area is also recognised by the professional market: major accountancy firms have been engaging us for years as advisers in cases involving foreign registrations, BPM assessments and import issues for their clients. We guide both expats and returning Dutch nationals from A to Z — from assessing whether you qualify for the relocation exemption to RDW registration and a sharply substantiated BPM declaration when payment is unavoidable.

Unsure about your situation?

Every move is different, and the tax consequences depend on your specific circumstances. Whether you have just arrived in the Netherlands or returned some time ago and are still driving on your foreign registration: get in touch with us before the Tax Authority gets in touch with you. Prevention is here quite literally cheaper than cure.

Official sources and case law

Want to read the rules yourself? Consult the official government information:

Belastingdienst — overview of BPM exemptions (relocation, short-term use, employees/employers): belastingdienst.nl. Rijksoverheid — "May I have a car with a foreign registration?": rijksoverheid.nl. Customs — cars and motorcycles when relocating and importing from outside the EU: douane.nl. RDW — registration and number plate application for imported vehicles: rdw.nl.

The cited case law is freely accessible at rechtspraak.nl: Supreme Court 5 April 2019, ECLI:NL:HR:2019:482 and ECLI:NL:HR:2019:483; Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal 15 October 2019, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2019:8440; Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant, ECLI:NL:RBZWB:2025:6863.

This article is intended as general information and does not constitute tax advice for individual cases. Regulations and rates change regularly; no rights can be derived from this article.

Living in the Netherlands, driving on a foreign registration? These are the rules for expats and returning Dutch nationals