Coming to live in the Netherlands

Greetings everyone. (1st posting but long-time PH reader, on and off depending on internet connection and 220v!)

I am moving to the Netherlands (Randstadt?) next year, having worked abroad for many years, living all over the world (I'm a mechanical engineer).

I am told I can bring in one car tax-free if I have owned it for more than 6 months here. Then I cannot sell it for 1 year.

I understand there is a high, special car tax called BPM. http://www.belastingdienst.nl/variabel/buitenland/...

But is there a website where you can just select the vehicle details from drop down lists to calculate bpm?

Also I know the road tax is paid every 3 months and calculated on weight and "greenness" and is often a lot more than UK (which I left 13 years ago). What is the website for looking this up?

If you were in my situation, what car would you bring in to Holland (BMP-free) to sell easily, and with as little loss financially, after one year? Currently, I have a 1994 MB G350 Diesel Turbo (which I have had for 13 years) and a 2004 Subaru Forester Turbo both of which would probably be too expensive to run in NL. I also have an old-timer (1968 Triumph Spitfire) I rebuilt (bodged) myself 25 years ago as a student.

The NL office would provide a cheap runabout (for wife and 2 kids).

But what classy set of wheels should I consider (that would ideally pay for itself) ?!?

Hoi Spikeyhead and Euroboy !

Spikeyhead, do you have your Boxter over in NL? (Greetings from a long-time HJ Back Roomer - I remember you were always a big Porsche fan, as am I).

If so, how much is your road tax? (And is there a website to look it up for other cars?)
If not, what are you driving at the mo in NL?

I can buy all new LHD euro spec cars tax-free here so is it theoretically possible to buy here, bring into NL and sell after a few years for no financial loss? If so, my wife would then allow ANY car upto a purchase budget of Euro 70,000 max! This would just about get me into a new 911 Carrera.

I see on autotrader.nl that 2007 Carreras are selling for around that price so, on paper, I could put forward a case of zero depreciation.

Euroboy, do you have your Alfa Spider on NL plates?

When I first came out here I brought the Mondeo with me and left the Boxster in England for weekend fun when I went home. However ended up living a few minutes walk from work, it would take longer to drive to work so didn't use it in the week and didn't use it at weekends either. Ended up taking the Mondeo back to England and selling the Pork, which is a bit of a blow, have missed a fast car but the roads round here in the East are crap for fun.

I have ordered and Ariel Atom to replace the Pork, but that won't come out of the factory until next year.

Having read this, buying a Corvette or similar and bringing it here in six months time isn't a bad plan if I can sell it quickly enough.

The BPM calculation is I think purely for information purposes to show how much the BPM has depreciated over the years.

The best thing to do is phone the Belastingdienst Auto Belasting department. They are very helpful, speak good English and can give acurate data.

If you want to import from Germany, try one of the many specialists such as autoclick.nl who can get you great deals on a used car and know many ways minimising your outlay for BPM and deliver the car to you on Dutch plates.
My Boss for example bought a 530 estate, two years old with all the options including M suspension, seats etc and saved over EUR30k on the price of the same car in NL

The thing to remember with selling a tax-free car here is that you will have to pay the remaining BPM and VAT on the car when you sell it. This is depreciated such that it reaches zero after something like 8 years. So importing a tax-free car to sell again for profit isn't necessarily that lucrative, it is rather dependent on the exchange rates at the time.

In my case, I could easily sell my S4 for a profit because I moved the money for it to the UK at the start of 2009, when the pound-euro exchange rate was extremely favourable and it's that aspect of the deal that would get me a profit. However to sell it, I'd still need to pay of the remaining BPM etc first which is a large chunk of money.

It's usually easier to sell these tax-free cars to other people wit a tax-free allowance

On a sad note, my 10-year allowance to by tax-free cars expires in one year and I'll then have to wait until I get promoted - at which point I'll be allowed 2 tax-free cars and diplomatic plates (but the company insists we pay our speeding tickets )

Edit: I live in Delft and work in Rijswijk (near the Hague), in case you need specific local info. There would appear to be quite a large PH contingent from this area.......

Ah, you are probably right - that's not the same situation as I am in and I'm not 100% familiar with the "normal" importation rules.

Indeed, here's the info, in English, from the horses mouth

http://www.belastingdienst.nl/variabel/buitenland/...

An uncle of me bought an RHD A6 when he lived in Scotland from Germany, after 6 months he moved back to the Netherlands, saved him a lot of tax!