Dutch road tax and what happens to it when you sell

How Dutch road tax works

Road tax is charged for owning a registered vehicle, and not for how much you drive it. When a vehicle is registered, the Belastingdienst sends an invoice automatically. You pay by direct debit, or by an invoice that arrives every three months.

The amount depends on the type of vehicle, its weight, its fuel type and its environmental impact. The rules for electric and hybrid cars change over time, so use the Belastingdienst for the figures that apply to your car in the current year. This guide gives no amounts for that reason.

When the road tax stops after a sale

The sale itself is completed when the buyer transfers the registration. At that point the RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority, registers the car in the buyer's name, and the RDW knows about it immediately. The tax you have paid for the time after the car left your name is then refunded.

That is the reason to see the proof of transfer (vrijwaringsbewijs, what this meansvrijwaringsbewijsYour proof of transfer. From the moment it records, the road tax is no longer yours.) before you hand over the car. Until the transfer is registered the car is yours, with the tax and insurance obligations that come with it. Our guide to the RDW transfer shows how to check this.

The refund after a sale

The Belastingdienst refunds road tax you paid for the months after the car left your name. You do not have to apply for it. Paying by direct debit makes no difference.

Two exceptions apply. Very small amounts are not refunded. And if you use the oldtimer transitional scheme, you do not receive any road tax back when you sell the car.

If your Dutch bank account is closed, ask the Belastingdienst where the refund will be paid. This is especially relevant if you are leaving the country.

Bills and direct debit around the sale date

A bill for the time before the sale remains yours. The Belastingdienst says to pay any road tax bill you still receive for a car you have sold.

If you pay by direct debit, you do not need to cancel anything to receive the refund, because the Belastingdienst pays it automatically. If something looks wrong some weeks after the sale, contact the Belastingdienst and mention the registration number and the date of the transfer.

Road tax while a car is suspended

A car whose registration is suspended (geschorst) is exempt from road tax. When you suspend online or at a counter, the RDW tells the Belastingdienst, and your tax obligation stops automatically. The same applies to the insurance and APK obligations, but the car may then not stand on a public road.

If you end a suspension within a month of its start date, you do owe road tax for that period, and the Belastingdienst sends a supplementary assessment. Selling the car to a new owner also ends the suspension. The RDW charges a fee for a suspension, which is not refunded if you end it early.

Road tax when you export the car

According to the RDW, the obligation to pay road tax ends once the vehicle is registered for export. After that date you can drive for 14 days on export plates, and road tax is no longer due for those days. The full process is in our guide to exporting a car.

Check any refund of tax you paid in advance with the Belastingdienst. The Belastingdienst page on selling a vehicle does not describe the export case, so we cannot say more about it here.

What you need

• The date the car was transferred, shown on your proof of transfer (vrijwaringsbewijs)
• Your registration number, for any question to the Belastingdienst
• Your Dutch bank details, or a plan for how a refund can reach you if you are leaving
• Any unpaid road tax bill for the period before the sale