Which documents must the Dutch seller hand over?
Dutch registration rests on a kentekencard, a plastic card issued by the RDW, completed by a nine-digit tenaamstellingscode that authorises the change of holder. The seller (or the two of you together) declares the export at an RDW station or an approved business: the RDW issues a paper export document and a vrijwaringsbewijs releasing the seller; the Dutch plates must be handed in.
Ask for the invoice or contract with the VIN and the latest APK (roadworthiness) report. The RDW’s public register (kentekencheck) lets you check for free, before the purchase, the date of first registration, the country of origin, the validity of the APK and the approval data.
Do I need a certificate of conformity for a Dutch car?
The Dutch system is highly digitised: the European approval number (typegoedkeuringsnummer) can be looked up in the RDW register, but the kentekencard itself does not always reproduce entries D.2 and K in the form registration authorities expect. If they are not complete, the certificate of conformity is requested. We check this for free from the VIN.
Two specifics weigh on the file. First the grijs kenteken: for Dutch tax reasons, estates and MPVs (Volvo V60 and V90 above all) were approved as two-seat N1 vans with a partition and a flat floor; the COC carries that configuration, and your authority will register a van. Then the British origin: many vehicles sold by Dutch dealers were first registered in the United Kingdom. If the first British registration is after Brexit, the vehicle went through a customs file and its approval may be British. The registration certificate shows the country of first registration.
VAT and tax clearance: what the tax office expects for a vehicle bought in the Union
A vehicle bought in another Member State is not cleared through customs: it falls under intra-Community VAT rules. Two situations:
- New means of transport (less than six months since first registration or less than 6,000 km): VAT is due in the country where you register the vehicle, at that country’s standard rate, even when you buy from a private individual. A dealer then invoices you without VAT.
- Used vehicle: no VAT in your country if you buy from a private individual. From a dealer, VAT is either included in the price (margin scheme, stated on the invoice) or charged in your country when the sale is made VAT-free as an intra-Community supply.
In both cases, most registration authorities want proof that the vehicle’s VAT position is in order before they issue the registration certificate: a tax clearance certificate in France (quitus fiscal), the e-705 customs signal in Belgium, the vignette 705 in Luxembourg, the BPM declaration in the Netherlands, the VRT appointment with Revenue in Ireland. Ask your authority which form applies and obtain it before filing. VAT rules on Your Europe.
The Dutch seller can recover part of the BPM (Dutch registration tax) on export: that is their business, but it explains why they will ask for a copy of your new registration certificate once the vehicle is registered.
Roadworthiness test: what your registration authority accepts
Most authorities ask for a valid roadworthiness certificate for a vehicle old enough to be subject to periodic testing (four years in most countries). A test passed in a centre approved in your own country is the safe route; a test passed in another Member State must be recognised as long as it is still valid under the frequency rules of Directive 2014/45/EU, but tests from outside the Union (British MOT, Swiss cantonal inspection) are not. Some countries, Belgium and the Netherlands among them, add a specific import inspection that checks the vehicle against its approval data.
A roadworthiness test checks the condition of the vehicle, not its conformity with the approved type: it replaces neither the certificate of conformity nor entries D.2 and K of the foreign registration certificate.
How to bring the car home after the export declaration?
After the export declaration at the RDW, the vehicle may be driven for fourteen days in the Netherlands on a white plate with black characters (an export plate you can have made or make yourself), provided the APK is still valid and the vehicle is insured. This tolerance applies on Dutch territory; to cross Belgium or Germany and reach your country, a trailer or a temporary registration obtained in advance from your own authority remains safer.
Once the vehicle has been de-registered in its country of origin, its old plates no longer cover it. Most countries offer a temporary registration while the file is being completed (the WW provisional certificate in France, transit or temporary plates elsewhere) or expect you to trailer the vehicle until the definitive certificate is issued. Ask your registration authority what exists and how long it lasts: temporary registrations are short and rarely extended, so gather the certificate of conformity and the roadworthiness test first.
Documents usually requested: proof of ownership (invoice or contract), ID, proof of address, the foreign registration certificate or the official document that replaces it, and proof of insurance. The vehicle must be insured from the first kilometre, including for the journey home on the export plates of the country of origin.
Registration taxes: what you pay when you file
Most countries levy one or more taxes at first registration on their territory, paid when the application is filed:
- a one-off registration tax based on CO₂ emissions, engine capacity, power or list price, with an age-related reduction for a used vehicle already registered abroad (VRT in Ireland, BPM in the Netherlands, the malus in France, the tax on entry into service in Belgium);
- an administrative fee for the certificate and the plates, and sometimes a postage charge;
- in some countries a weight-based component, or a regional tax proportional to fiscal horsepower;
- then the annual road tax, which starts with the registration.
The certificate of conformity supplies precisely the values that serve as the tax base: WLTP CO₂, masses, power. An NEDC figure read from an old document can distort your estimate. Our calculators give an order of magnitude; the taxable value is set by the administration. Car taxes across the Union, on Your Europe.
How do I file the registration application?
The application is filed with the registration authority of the country where you live: online in France (ANTS), through your insurer’s WebDIV access in Belgium, at the SNCA in Luxembourg, at an RDW inspection station in the Netherlands, at an NCTS centre in Ireland, at the local Zulassungsstelle in Germany. You present or upload the documents, pay the taxes, and receive a provisional or definitive registration certificate that lets you have plates made.
Our step-by-step guide details the documents, the order of the formalities and the Belgian, Luxembourg, Swiss, German and Dutch variants.