Road tax

When do you not have to pay road tax?

Cars older than 40 years are exempt from road tax. Your vehicle must have been first used at least 40 years ago. You will then automatically receive an exemption for your old-timer. Is the exemption not automatic, but are you entitled to it? Then you can fill out the form Request motor vehicle tax exemption via the website of the Tax and Customs Administration. If you put a car of 40 years or older in your name, you will automatically receive an exemption from road tax.

Which cars are cheap in road tax?

If you are looking for a car that is cheap in road tax, you should look for a petrol car. This is because petrol cars are the cheapest when it comes to road tax, followed by LPG and then diesel. In addition, the heavier the car, the higher the road tax. A light car is much cheaper in road tax than a large, heavy car.

When is road tax depreciated?

You can pay road tax in two ways: monthly or quarterly. If you pay the road tax monthly, it will be debited from your account automatically around the 18th of each month. If you choose to pay per quarter, this will be done by giro slip. The giro slip will state the amount that you have to pay and the final payment date.

Why do you pay road tax?

There are two reasons why you, as a vehicle owner, have to pay road tax. We have already mentioned the first reason: the government uses the road tax to maintain the Dutch roads. This allows them to finance road repairs, for example. They also use it to further expand the road network. This ultimately leads to a better infrastructure, from which you as a road user also benefit. The second reason for paying road tax is the environment. Motor vehicles are, of course, harmful to the environment, particularly because of their emissions. That is why the government is trying to encourage hybrid and electric driving by exempting vehicles with low CO2 emissions from paying road tax.

Road tax calculation

As soon as the registration number of a car is registered in your name, you are obliged to pay road tax. You do not have to file a separate declaration for this. As soon as the vehicle is registered, the Tax and Customs Administration automatically receives the required data from the RDW. A number of factors are important for calculating the road tax, such as the type of motor vehicle you have, the weight and fuel type of the vehicle, how polluting the car is and in which province you live.

Road tax registration number

The road tax is calculated per registration number. The weight and the fuel type of your car influence the amount of road tax. With the help of your license plate, you can easily make an online estimation of the road tax. Based on the license plate, the necessary data about the car are retrieved from the RDW. Do you not have the license plate number of the car at hand? Then you can also fill in the data manually. For example, the car make, the model and type of car, the year and month of construction and the type of fuel. You can also indicate whether it is an automatic or manual car. Based on these data, you can also calculate the road tax without the license plate.

Road tax check

Are you planning to buy a new car? Then you often look not only at the purchase price, but also at the monthly costs such as car insurance and road tax. Therefore, it is useful to do a road tax check in advance. This prevents you from suddenly having to pay much more in road tax, without knowing it in advance. An important factor in the road tax check is the type of fuel the car uses. For a diesel car, the road tax is much higher than for a petrol car.

Road tax on cars

You have to pay road tax when a motor vehicle is registered in your name. This must be done from the moment the vehicle is registered in your name, so as soon as the registration number is transferred. From that moment, you are the official owner of the vehicle. In the Netherlands, we pay road tax for owning the car and not for the number of kilometres driven. Someone who drives a lot does not pay more road tax than someone who drives only sporadically.

Road tax on electric cars

Normally, as an owner of a motor vehicle, you always pay road tax. The amount of road tax depends on the type of fuel, the weight of the vehicle and the province where you live. However, as an owner of an electric car, you do not have to pay road tax. The central government has exempted owners of a fully electric car from paying road tax until 2024.

Road tax rates

The road tax rates change every year. This is because the government makes an annual inflation correction. The road tax also differs per province, because the provinces are allowed to determine the surcharge rate themselves. In 2022, the rate increases for the provinces of Groningen. Gelderland, Flevoland, North Brabant, Limburg and Utrecht.

Road tax hybrid

There are two types of hybrid cars: plug-in hybrid cars and normal hybrid cars. Normal hybrid cars are not much more economical than petrol cars. That is why the tax benefit only applies to plug-in hybrids. Owners of a plug-in hybrid car receive a 50% discount on the road tax. This discount on the road tax will apply until 2024. In 2025, the discount will be reduced to 25%, and as of 2026, the benefit will cease to apply. This applies not only to plug-in hybrids, but also to motorbikes and delivery vans.

Road tax LPG

The road tax for a car that runs on LPG is also higher than for a petrol car. This may seem strange, because LPG is, after e.g. natural gas, the cleanest fuel at the pump. However, the higher road tax for an LPG car is a compensation for the lower fuel tax. Moreover, a modern petrol car runs cleaner on petrol than on LPG. This is because the engine is designed for petrol.

Road tax diesel

Cars that run on diesel are much more expensive in terms of road tax than petrol cars, for example. We mentioned earlier that the amount of road tax depends on a number of factors, such as the level of environmental pollution and the weight of the car. Especially these two factors are responsible for the higher road tax for a diesel car. A diesel engine is a lot heavier than a petrol engine, which means that the average weight of a diesel car is often higher. In addition, a diesel car is also more polluting than a petrol car, as a result of which you automatically pay more road tax.

Change road tax account number

You can change the account number from which the road tax is taken by direct debit by calling the Tax Information Line on 0800 - 0749 . There you can request an authorisation form for a direct debit from your new account number. Fill in this form and send it to the Tax Authorities. You will receive a confirmation once the Tax Administration has processed the change. It takes about 3 weeks before the authorisation is processed. It is therefore possible that the road tax will be debited once more from your old account number before that time.

Paying road tax per quarter

You can also choose to pay the road tax quarterly. You do this by means of an invoice. The invoice that the tax authorities send you will state the period of time, the amount that you have to pay and the final payment date. The date on which the period begins depends on the date of issue of your vehicle registration certificate or registration card. If your licence plate was issued on 11 May, the period begins on 11 May, 11 August, 11 November and 11 February.