When do I no longer have to pay road tax for an old-timer?

In principle, everyone who drives a car or other motor vehicle on the road has to pay road tax. In this way, all road users jointly contribute to the maintenance and expansion of the road network in the Netherlands.

If you own a vintage car, there is a chance that you may have to pay less or even no road tax. This depends on the age of the vintage car and the fuel it runs on. However, oldtimer insurance is mandatory.

When do you not pay road tax for an old-timer?

If an oldtimer is 40 years or older, you do not have to pay road tax for it in the Netherlands. The reason for this is that oldtimer owners often do not drive the oldtimer very much. The date on which the oldtimer was put into use is taken into account.

Because vintage cars of this age do not take to the road very often, it was decided to abolish the road tax for these cars. You do not have to apply for an exemption yourself. All oldtimers whose first registration was at least 40 years ago will automatically receive exemption. In addition to passenger cars, this includes trucks, buses, vans and motorcycles. One condition is that you do not use the vintage car for business purposes. If this is the case, the exemption expires.

Exemption for other motor vehicles

Besides vintage cars 40 years old or older, there are other vehicles for which you can get exemption from road tax. If you do not get an automatic exemption, you can apply for it online at the Tax Office.

These are the motor vehicles listed below:

• Fully electric cars (exemption until 2020)
• Police, fire engines and (animal) ambulances
• Hearses
• Gullies
• Rubbish and street cleaning vehicles
• Road maintenance and construction wagons

Discount on road tax

In 2014, the age at which old-timers are exempted from road tax changed from 25 to 40 years. As a result, oldtimer owners who were initially exempted suddenly had to pay road tax. For old-timers that were taken into use between 1 January 1978 and 1 January 1988, the transitional scheme was created. Old-timer owners pay a lot less road tax than the regular amount.

If you want to make use of the transitional arrangement, you need to apply for this yourself at the tax office. There are a number of requirements that an oldtimer must meet in order to make use of the transitional arrangement, these requirements can be found here.

Road tax level oldtimer

The amount of road tax you have to pay depends on several factors. The place of residence of the license plate holder, the type of fuel the vintage car runs on, the weight of the car and how environmentally friendly the car is will help determine the amount of road tax.

Should you no longer own the vintage car because you have sold it, make sure that you receive a release certificate. Even if the vintage car is to be scrapped. A release certificate is proof that you are no longer the owner and therefore you do not have to pay road tax and car insurance.

What is an old-timer according to the tax authorities?

Nowadays, fewer cars fall under the favourable old-timer tariff. Also for the exemption of the motor vehicle tax, other requirements apply. The most important tightening is that a car must now be at least 40 years old for the exemption from motor vehicle tax. Do you have a truck or a bus? Then an additional requirement is that the vehicle is not used commercially. Is your old-timer younger than 40 years old? Then you owe motor vehicle tax depending on the car's fuel. Also read our blog: Oldtimer - What about insurance and tax?