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 put into service at least 40 years ago. You will then automatically receive exemption for your vintage car. Is the exemption not automatic, but you are entitled to it? Then you can fill in the form Request for exemption from motor vehicle tax via the website of the Tax Administration. If you put a car of 40 years or older in your name, you will automatically receive exemption from road tax.

Which cars are cheap in road taxes?

If you are looking for a car that is cheap in road tax, it is best to look at a gasoline car. This is because a gasoline car is the cheapest in road tax, followed by LPG and only 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 automatically debited from your account around the ^18th of each month. If you choose to pay quarterly, it will be by giro collection form. The giro slip will state the amount you need 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. The first reason we already mentioned: the government uses the road tax to maintain the Dutch roads. For example, they can finance repairs to the road surface. They also use it to further expand the road network. This ultimately leads to a better infrastructure, which also benefits you as a road user. The second reason for paying road tax is environmental. Motor vehicles are obviously harmful to the environment, especially because of emissions. This 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

Once a car's license plate is in your name, you are required to pay road tax. You do not have to file a separate tax return for this. As soon as the vehicle is registered in your name, the Tax Office automatically receives the necessary data from the RDW. A number of factors are important for calculating road tax, such as the type of motor vehicle you have, the weight and fuel type of the vehicle, how environmentally polluting the car is and which province you live in.

Road tax license plate

Road tax is calculated per license plate. This is because the weight and fuel type of your car affect the amount of road tax. Using your license plate number, you can easily estimate the road tax online. Based on the license plate number, the necessary data about the car are retrieved from the RDW. Do you not have the registration number of the car at hand? Then you can also enter the data manually. For example, the car make, model and type of car, year and month of construction and the type of fuel. You can also indicate whether it is an automatic or manual car. Using this information, you can calculate the road tax even without a license plate.

Road tax check

Are you planning to purchase a new car? Then you often look not only at the purchase value, but also at the monthly costs such as car insurance and road tax. That is why it is useful to do a road tax check in advance. This will prevent you from suddenly having to pay much more road tax without knowing it in advance. An important factor in the road tax check, for example, is the fuel type of the car. For a diesel car the road tax is a lot higher than for a gasoline car.

Road tax car

You must pay road tax when a motor vehicle is registered in your name. You must do so from the moment the vehicle is in your name, that is, as soon as the license plate is transferred. This is because from that moment you are officially the owner of the car. In the Netherlands, we pay road tax for owning the car and not for the number of miles driven. Therefore, someone who drives a lot of cars does not pay more road tax than someone who drives only sporadically.

Road tax electric car

Normally, as a motor vehicle owner, you always pay motor vehicle taxes. 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 electric car owner, you do not have to pay road tax. The central government has exempted owners of an all-electric car from paying road tax through 2024.

Road tax rates

Road tax rates change every year. This is because the government adjusts for inflation each year. The road tax rate also varies by province, because the provinces are allowed to set the opcent 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 fuel-efficient than a gasoline-powered car. Therefore, the tax break only applies to plug-in hybrid cars. In fact, owners of a plug-in hybrid get a 50% discount on road tax. This road tax discount applies through 2024. In 2025 the discount goes to 25% and from 2026 the benefit stops. This applies not only to plug-in hybrid cars, but also motorcycles and vans.

Road tax LPG

Road taxes are also higher for a car that runs on LPG than for a gasoline-powered car. This may seem strange because LPG is, after natural gas for example, the cleanest fuel at the pump. However, for an LPG car, the higher road tax is a compensation for the lower fuel excise tax. Moreover, a modern gasoline car runs cleaner on gasoline than on LPG. This is because the engine is designed for gasoline.

Road tax diesel

Cars that run on diesel are a lot more expensive in road taxes than gasoline cars, for example. Earlier, we mentioned that the amount of road tax depends on a number of factors, including the degree of environmental pollution and the weight of the car, among others. These two factors in particular are responsible for the higher road tax in the case of a diesel car. For example, a diesel engine is a lot heavier than a gasoline engine, so the average weight of a diesel car is often higher. In addition, a diesel car is also more polluting than a gasoline car, so you automatically pay more road tax.

Change road tax account number

You can change the account number from which the road tax is deducted by direct debit by calling the Tax Phone on 0800 - 0749 . There you will request an authorization form for a direct debit from your new account number. Complete this form and send it to the Tax Office. As soon as the Tax Administration has processed the change, you will receive a confirmation of this. It takes about 3 weeks for the authorization to be processed. It is therefore possible that the road tax will be debited once more from your old account number before then.

Paying road tax quarterly

You can also choose to pay road tax quarterly. You do this by means of a bill. The bill sent to you by the Tax Office will state the period of time, the amount you must pay and the due date for payment. The date on which the period begins depends on the issue date of your registration certificate or registration card. If you registration card was issued on May 11, the period begins on May 11, August 11, November 11 and February 11.