Thursday, August 11, 2016

Moving your Motorcycle to Holland - Step by Step How To

The following is an account of my personal experience in bringing my motorcycle from Portugal to the Netherlands. I detail each step and the associated costs.

First, some context information: I moved from Portugal to the Netherlands in April to grab a job opportunity. I rented a house, opened a local bank account, registered myself as a resident (got my BSN number) and started working.

The motorcycle is a BMW K1300R from 2011.

By the end of April I decided to bring my motorcycle over, so I asked my wife to ship it. Here is what happened:


1 - Ship the bike

After careful selection I went with Agility. I contacted Helder Marques, the director, who was very helpful, gave me a good price and handled the transportation beautifully.
I gave him a copy of my ID card for pick-up reference.

Cost: EUR 420,00


2 - Collect the bike

Easy peasy! I went to Oosterhout, Showed my ID card and picked up the bike:

VAN WANROOY TRANS & LOGISTIEK                                        
KOOPVARDIJWEG 3 A                                                                              
NL-4906 OOSTERHOUT



Cost: EUR 0,0


3 - Apply for exemption for vehicle import tax

Since the motorcycle was mine already and I am just moving it from Portugal to the Netherlands, I do not need to pay vehicle import tax - BPM. So the first thing to do, after the motorcycle arrives in Holland is ask for this exemption.

Go to the appropriate Tax Authorities web page, print out the PDF, fill it in, sign it and send it by post to:

Tax Office 
PO Box 4 
6400 AA Heerlen

The PDF is in Dutch and there is no English version. You can get most of it with Google Translate and the bits that you don't understand, ask a friend who speaks the language.

Here is an example of a filled in form.

You only have to pay the postage:

Cost: EUR 3,00


4 - Receive the exemption grant from the Tax Authorities

About a week after you sent your request for exemption you should get a response by post - A letter from the Tax Authorities saying that they accept your request and are exempt from paying the BPM.


They will also send two forms which you will need to fill in: BPM_013 and BPM_014 to calculate the amount of BPM corresponding to you motorcycle (Even though you have exemption, you will have to pay the BPM if you sell your motorcycle in the first year).

Calculating the BPM can be a pain the butt, but fortunately there are a few guidelines that you can find online.

You have to base the calculation on the net price of the Motorcycle at the time is was first registered. What I did was call the BMW motorcycle dealer in the Netherlands and ask them how much was the net price (before BPM and VAT) of my motorcycle in 2011 here in the Netherlands.
Put this net price on the PDF form and it will calculate the gross BPM automatically.
Now, because the bike is from 2011, there will be a discount one the gross BPM, and thus you arrive at the "historical BPM". This is what you would have to pay. Here is how you can calculate it.

Example calculation:

Example forms:
BPM_013
BPM_014

Do your calculation, fill in these two forms and keep them together with the exemption grant. Sign and include the papers you used to justify your calculation.

Cost: EUR 0,0


5 - Set an appointment for the Inspection of the motorcycle

The inspection is the first step to getting Dutch license plates for the motorcycle. This is done by the RDW. They will verify that your motorcycle is in conformity with European regulations and they will also send the current motorcycle registration papers back to the country of origin so that the current license plates are canceled.

Go to the appropriate RDW web page to setup an inspection appointment.
Follow the steps to complete your inspection appointment.

You will not pay anything at this moment, but you will see how much you will have to pay on the day of the inspection. In my case it was EUR 104,91

Cost: EUR 0,0


6 - Take the motorcycle for inspection

On the day of the inspection bring with you your ID card, the motorcycle registration document and any other documents pertaining to the motorcycle, like the motorcycle user manual and the service book and, if you can, the CoC of the motorcycle. Also bring the BPM exemption grant from the tax authorities and the other BPM forms and papers you gathered in step 4.

In my case, I did not have the CoC of my motorcycle, but the inspector was kind enough to look it up online.

After the inspection is done, you pay and you receive a paper certifying the motorcycle from the RDW. Next put the following documents in an envelope for the tax authorities:

  1. Motorcycle certificate from the RDW (you just got)
  2. Exemption Grant from the tax authorities
  3. BPM_013
  4. BPM_014
  5. Aditional papers you used to calculate your Historical BPM.

The RDW inspection center has envelopes and an internal post box specifically for this, so you don't have to go anywhere or pay anything extra for this.

Cost: EUR 104,91


7 - Receive your new motorcycle registration

You will receive a letter from the RDW with your new registration and license plate number




Cost: EUR 0,0


8 - Have a new license plate made for the motorcycle

Choose a license plate maker from one of the officially approved by RDW. Here a list.

I had the license plate made and also bought the plastic support to attach to the bike.

Cost: EUR 23,95


9 - Buy an insurance for the motorcycle with the new plates

I bought the basic beste-in-1-pakket from the Independer.

Cost: EUR 6,49 per month


10 - Pay road tax in the Netherlands


Cost: EUR T.B.A.




References:

RDW
Home Page
Apply-for-Dutch-vehicle-license-number-for-EU-or-EFTA-country-vehicle

Belastingdienst (Tax authorities)
Taxes on Cars and Motorcycles

BPM Calculation
www.automotiveimport.nl/bpm-berekenen
www.roadracing.nl/bpm.php