Car and driving licence in Luxembourg: six months, a customs sticker and a stamp of 50 euros

Yes, your car can come to Luxembourg, and cheaply. On a used car that counts as relocation goods you pay no excise duty and no VAT.

What it does cost:

• a tax stamp of 50 euros;
• the plates;
• Luxembourg third-party insurance;
• the inspection, if your Dutch APK (roadworthiness test) no longer holds;
• after that, the annual road tax, by emissions.

The cost indication reckons with 150 to 600 euros.

Two things to know in advance:

• You need customs' vignette 705, even for a car from another EU country. It is the proof that the VAT side is in order, and without that sticker the SNCA (Luxembourg's vehicle and licence authority) doesn't register the car. That is the find on guichet.lu, the Luxembourg government portal.
• The clock is running: within six months of your arrival notification at the municipality, the car must be on Luxembourg plates.

For the driving licence there is one hard rule: once you live in Luxembourg, you may no longer renew it in the Netherlands.

Do I pay excise duty or VAT on my car?

Four hours' drive away and with no border, the car looks like the easiest part of a move to Luxembourg. And it is, if you know the order. Luxembourg charges no excise duty on a car from another EU country. No VAT is due on a used car either if it is relocation goods: yours for at least six months, and you resident outside Luxembourg for at least twelve months. A car that still counts as new does pay VAT.

When must the car be on Luxembourg plates, and past which counters?

Within six months of your arrival notification at the municipality the car must be on Luxembourg plates. The route runs past three counters, in this order:

1. The SNCA and the insurer. Apply for a registration number at the Société nationale de circulation automobile. Note: an allocated number is not yet a registration. Have the plates made by an approved maker, and take out Luxembourg third-party insurance.
2. Customs. At an office of the Administration des douanes et accises you collect the vignette 705. It is needed for a car from the EU too; it is the proof that the VAT side is in order.
3. The inspection and the registration. If your Dutch APK still holds, you bring that proof; otherwise an SNCT station (a Luxembourg inspection centre) inspects the car. Then you submit the registration form at one of the three SNCA centres, with a tax stamp of 50 euros, the proof of ownership, the foreign registration certificate, the insurance, the vignette 705 and your identity document.

Item or deadline	What
Registration of the car	within 6 months of the arrival notification at the municipality
VAT exemption as relocation goods	car yours for at least 6 months, you resident outside Luxembourg for at least 12 months
Tax stamp at the SNCA	50 euros
Vignette 705	at customs, also for a car from the EU
Inspection	only if the Dutch APK no longer holds
Provisional tax sticker	30 days after registration
Road tax (Autosteier)	annually, by emissions, to customs
BPM refund in the Netherlands	the car must be registered elsewhere within 13 weeks of the RDW status 'Export'
Registering the licence at the SNCA	free
Exchanging the licence (voluntary)	30 euros, at the earliest 185 days after settling

After the registration you get a provisional tax sticker for thirty days. Then you pay the annual road tax, the Autosteier, to customs. It goes by emissions, so a heavy car pays more.

Don't forget the Dutch side:

• the export notification at the RDW;
• the BPM refund, which requires the car to be registered in Luxembourg within thirteen weeks;
• the cancellation letter for your car insurance.

Those thirteen weeks are tighter than the Luxembourg six months. Whoever wants the refund doesn't wait until the sixth month.

The six months for the car are the third clock of this journey, after the eight days for the notification and the three months for the registration at the municipality.