It’s really possible to save a lot of money importing a car like this, and here in the Netherlands there’s not much information in English on the topic. In fact a lot of the information in Dutch is posted by Internet trolls and misleading, suggesting it’s illegal, difficult or you need to make use of an importer. In fact it’s very easy to do yourself, but is a little time consuming.
It may seem strange that in order to use a car purchased in Germany in The Netherlands the car has to be ‘imported’, but that’s still the reality in Europe. Actually, I think even taking a car from one US state to another can involve some red tape, and this probably isn’t so different. In fact I think this same process exists many places, which is why I thought I would post about my experiences.
Why Import a Car?
My top motivation was because I hate Dutch car dealers. They are such a scam. The country is small, and the few dealers that exist here all operate as a cartel. They use the excuse that when they themselves import a car they need to pay taxes up front, so they can only import cars that sell quickly. In fact it’s more like they only import cars that make them the most money. When you go to a car dealership, they will walk over to the car they want to sell you and if you don’t want to buy it they just shrug their shoulders.
In fact there are many colors not available here, because the dealers only want to stock very neutral colors. There are also many configuration options like large and/or diesel engines with cheaper interior trim levels, that don’t provide the dealers with enough profit. For some reason if you want a diesel engine here, you have to pay through the nose for it with a more expensive interior, and the dealers just think we have to accept that.
Besides many models of cars not being available, there are also very significant tax benefits to importing a used car. BPM is the Dutch tax you have to pay on all cars here, and if you import a car that’s for example 1 year old, you get at least a 30% discount. The sweet spot in this discount is about 18 months (at about a 40% discount), but even a car that’s just a few months old can save you a lot of money. An even older car qualifies for a larger discount, but the increase tapers off after 18 months. Before discounts, BPM tax can range from about €3000-10000, so getting a discount is very important.
When you import a used car you also pay the sales tax (VAT) in the country you buy the car, and in Germany this is 19%, while here in the Netherlands it’s 21%. This alone is a significant savings.
What is a Used Car and How to Find One
In the EU a used car is defined as one at least 6 months old, with at least 6000 km on the odometer.
The difficult thing about importing a brand new car is you need to pay sales tax (VAT) in your home country. That means, in theory, the dealer has to sell you the car without tax, and instead you have to pay this at home when you register the car. Since some people have found ways of not paying this tax at all, most dealers won’t sell a car to you in this way because they might end up being liable for this tax. It may be possible to pay an importer to import a new car for you, but it’s hard to do this as an individual.
If you are looking for a specific car, websites autoscout24.de and mobile.de offer a very large selection of used cars — but be careful! First of all do not believe the reviews on these sites, because negative reviews are blocked and removed. Just like anywhere, there is also a lot of fraud in Germany with used car sales. There are many bad dealers, especially the smaller ones. The RDW, the Dutch car regulatory agency reports that 1 in 5 odometers in imported German cars shows signs of tampering, and half of these have definitely been altered. Be particularly careful of cars that have been in accidents. By law all cars sold are supposed to come with a 1 year warranty, unless you wave this right, so be careful what you sign.
Most people without technical knowledge of cars will want to buy from a dealer that also sells new cars of the brand you are looking for. For example, I bought a used Skoda, from a Skoda dealer. In addition, be sure to research the dealer on the Internet. Look at websites like trustpilot or Google Maps, which have uncensored reviews. Many of these dealers are huge, and work on the basis of low commissions and high volumes, so it’s still possible to get a good deal from them.
Jahreswagen
This is a German word that Google Translate says means ’employee car’ in English. Actually, it’s more than that.
It turns out there are more people besides us looking for a high quality used car. In fact it’s a cultural thing in Germany, that some people don’t believe in new cars. The argument goes that a new car is too expensive, and many new cars have mechanical problems that emerge in the first year. They say it’s better to buy a 1 year old car, that’s cheaper and has all the kinks worked out.
So if all these Germans are looking for lightly used cars, and people like you and me are looking for lightly used cars to export, where do all these 1 year old used cars come from? The German car dealers have come up with a solution called a jahreswagen. As a work benefit, they give new cars to their employees to drive for a few months, then return to the dealer. Since they need to be resold, they have to be driven carefully, kept in perfect condition, and are generally still under manufacturers warranty by the time you get them. These are several thousand euros cheaper than a new car, and fall under the legal definition of a used car.
The German car market is full of this sort of car. Almost every dealer carries them. This is a very good type of car to buy and export.
Don’t confuse this type of car with one that was a former rental car or taxi, which will certainly have been driven a lot harder.
Buying and Exporting the Car
When you buy a car, at least from a dealer, you generally first have to sign a purchase contract. Among other things this gives the dealer your permission to register the car temporarily under your name with the German authorities, and allows the dealer to arrange temporary liability insurance and export plates like the ones in the picture above. These plates are valid for either 14 or 28 days, and let you drive anywhere in the EU. The period of validity is indicated in the red area on the right. In this case the plates expired 1-aug-2018.
In the purchase contract you will also specify if you will pay by bank transfer or cash. If you are bringing the cash from The Netherlands on public transport, consider the safety of this first. Also here in Amsterdam there is significant crime in areas around banks that dispense large amounts of cash. Even if you do decide to pay in cash, be wary of dealers who only accept cash, because they are probably trying to dodge taxes.
If you buy your car from a private party instead of a dealer, unless the seller lets you keep the old plates, you will probably have to go yourself to the KFZ-Zulassungsstelle in Germany and arrange these plates. In this case, be sure you have arranged liability insurance in advance, or they won’t issue the plates. In any event, someone, either you or the seller, has to go to the KFZ-Zulassungsstelle and register the car as exported.
These plates are the subject of urban legends. If you read Internet forums in Dutch some people will suggest they are illegal in The Netherlands, or that people who live here can’t use them because they represent an evasion of Dutch road tax. This is all nonsense, they are issued under an EU directive and the Dutch authorities issue a similar plate themselves for exporting cars. They are 100% valid across the entire EU, regardless of the driver of the vehicle.
The EU has decided all EU residents have the right to buy a car in any other EU country and bring it home to use, and The Netherlands has to make this possible. This is simply the law.
Be careful, there’s a similar looking plate with a 5 day validity, that’s only valid in Germany. Using a 5 day plate to drive back to The Netherlands is at your own risk!
Importing and Registering the Car
Once back in The Netherlands you have to go to the Dutch counterpart of the German KFZ-Zulassungsstelle, which is called the RDW. In short, you need to check the opening hours of the office closest to you, then show up at least a half hour before that. Take a number, wait your turn, present all the paperwork for the car, get another number and wait for your car to be inspected. For an almost new car expect the inspection itself to take about 90 seconds, and another 15 minutes for the guy to do all the paperwork.
The RDW will confiscate all the registration related paperwork for your car, but will let you keep the license plates. This means it’s technically no longer legal to drive your car, but parking it on the street is no big problem. Remember your export plates have the expiration date in big letters on the front, so don’t drag your feet too long in the registration process, or you will probably have to find off street parking for your car.
If you go to the RDW in Amsterdam, on the other side of the N200 is a neighborhood with free on street parking! This is a good place to just leave your car for a week or two.
After you pass the inspection, you need to submit the completed tax forms. If you are organized enough to have filled these out in advance, there’s a dropbox at the RDW. Otherwise, you have to send them by mail, which takes an extra day or two.
The tax forms are not for the faint of heart. They take some time, and are all in Dutch. They are all online, in digital form, and can all be translated with Google Translate. Basically you can choose either the current rules for determining the BPM tax, or the ones in effect when the car was newly registered. You have to compute both of these. You also get a discount for importing a used car, and you can either base this on the actual depreciation or on their standard formula. Their formula is probably more advantageous, and if you accept it you don’t have to calculate the actual depreciation. There is also a space for you to state the catalog price of the car, which is the new list price less all taxes.
After you submit the tax form to the Customs/Tax Authorities, it takes about 2 days for them to process the form. About 5 days after you pay the assessed taxes, the RDW will complete the registration and send the registration card to you. With the registration card you can get plates made at most mechanics or lots of other places, and then you’re done! In total, this process takes about 5-7 working days.
Don’t forget to insure your new car.
Update 19 Dec 2018: Tax Forms
Some people have been sending me emails with different questions, but one concerned the rule of moving to the Netherlands and bringing your car as part of your household goods. In this case you don’t need to pay BPM. As far as I can see on the tax authority’s website, the procedure for this is pretty much exactly as I have already laid out here, but you have to file an additional form to ask for the exemption, which is also unfortunately in Dutch.
The form to ask for the moving exemption is here.
The general tax form that everyone has to file as part of registering the car is here.
These forms are in Dutch, but you can probably copy and paste the text into Google translate.
You probably need a Dutch taxpayer ID before you file any forms. This is called a Burger ServiceNummer or BSN.
I expect these links to change, so if the links don’t work don’t hesitate to send me a mail and I will track down the new links.
The tax authorities are not clear about when the form asking for the relocation exemption needs to be filed. It apparently can be filed before or up to 1 year after you move to the Netherlands. If you file it after registration, you will need to pay the BPM up front and get a refund later.
If you are asking for a BPM exemption, be sure to put it in perspective. For a new car the BPM can be around €6000-10000, but this goes down quickly with the age of the car. A 5-year old car is probably around €500, and if you have a car much older than that, it may not be worth asking for an exemption.
If you have any questions, for example about dealers or tax forms, please feel free to contact me via the contact link or leave a comment. nederlands kan ook
