When do I no longer have to pay road tax for a vintage car?

In principle, everyone who goes on the road with a car or other motor vehicle must pay road tax. In this way, all road users collectively 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 a vintage car?

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 following motor vehicles:

• Fully electric cars (exemption through 2020)
• Police, fire trucks and (animal) ambulances
• Hearses
• Gully Suckers
• Garbage and street sweeping trucks
• Wagons for road maintenance and construction

Discount on road tax

In 2014, the age at which vintage cars are exempt from road tax was changed from 25 to 40 years old. As a result, old-timer owners who initially received exemption suddenly had to pay road tax. For oldtimers that were put into use between January 1, 1978 and January 1, 1988, the transitional arrangement was created. Oldtimer owners thus 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.

Height of road tax 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.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, what is a vintage car?

Today, fewer cars fall into the advantageous old-timer rate. There are also different requirements for motor vehicle tax exemption. The main tightening is that a car must now be at least 40 years old for motor vehicle tax exemption. Do you have a truck or a bus? Then an additional requirement is that the vehicle is not used commercially. Is your vintage car younger than 40 years old? Then you owe motor vehicle tax depending on the fuel of the car. Also read our blog: Oldtimer - What about insurance and tax?