Your car to Belgium: BPM back, paying BIV — and check the LEZ first
When you move to Belgium you get the residual BPM back from the Netherlands — provided you are registered in Belgium within thirteen weeks. Against that stands the BIV, which each region calculates completely differently, and three low-emission zones where every Dutch plate has to register in advance. The chain from RDW to registration plate, in the right order, with the costs and the clocks.
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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
Yes, your car can come along to Belgium, and you even get money back. For almost every destination on this site the car story is a gloomy sum. Belgium is the exception that shows how the EU is meant to work.
What it costs is the Belgian BIV minus the Dutch BPM you get back. The BIV is the tax on entry into service, which you pay when you register the car in Belgium; the BPM is the Dutch tax paid when the car was first registered. It works if you know the order and make the clock.
Two traps to know in advance:
- The thirteen-week clock the Netherlands sets for the Belgian registration.
- The low-emission zone (LEZ), where your car has to be registered in advance even on Dutch plates.
The refund: residual BPM, with a clock of thirteen weeks
Whoever has their car permanently registered in another EU country gets the residual BPM back. The conditions:
- The registration dates from on or after 16 October 2006.
- The car is not a salvage vehicle.
- It is recorded at the RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority) with "export" status.
- The Belgian registration is done within thirteen weeks of that export status, and documents must show this.
So only deregister the car for export once the Belgian side is ready. Keep the Belgian registration certificate: that is your evidence for the Tax Administration.
The export itself you arrange with the RDW, at an inspection station, a counter or a recognised export company. You hand in the registration plates and receive:
- a certificate of indemnity;
- the registration card with a corner cut off;
- the export certificate (registration certificate part II), which you need together with the card for the Belgian registration.
At the RDW that costs € 12. With the export plate on white plates you may still drive on Dutch roads for fourteen days.
The Belgian chain: inspection first, plate in your name
This order saves time:
- The customs formality. That is the digitised vignette 705, online via MyMinfin (the Belgian government's tax portal). Within the EU you pay no duties or VAT.
- The second-hand inspection. Contrary to what is often thought, an imported car has to pass a Belgian inspection station before registration. You may present it on its Dutch plate, as long as that is valid on Belgian territory.
- The registration. It runs through your insurer. Plate and registration certificate come by post.
Was the car inspected less than two months ago in an EU member state, and do you have a green inspection certificate with normal validity? Then a simplified visual inspection suffices. A fresh MOT just before leaving is therefore no waste.
One cultural difference to remember: the Belgian registration plate is personal. It follows you, not the car. On selling you keep the plate and transfer it to your next car.
The BIV: three regions, three sums
The tax on entry into service follows automatically after registration, and your place of residence determines the sum:
- Flanders calculates on CO2, fuel and age. Your Dutch registration years count as age too, which makes a real difference for an older car. Use the official simulator before you decide.
- Wallonia completely rebuilt its system as of 1 July 2025. The tax is calculated on engine power, CO2 emissions, maximum authorised mass and fuel, with a reduction for second-hand cars and a € 250 reduction for large families.
- Brussels still calculates with fiscal horsepower.
And electric is no longer free: since 2026 an EV in Flanders also pays a fixed BIV amount and annual road tax.
| Clock or cost item | Deadline or amount |
|---|---|
| Belgian registration after the RDW export status (BPM refund) | within 13 weeks |
| Export at the RDW | € 12; export plate valid 14 days |
| Visual inspection instead of full second-hand inspection | with an EU inspection less than 2 months old with a green certificate |
| Walloon BIV, new calculation | registrations from 1 July 2025; € 250 reduction for large families |
| LEZ: foreign registration plate | always register in advance, also electric |
| LEZ Brussels: driving without registration | € 150, at most one fine every 3 months |
| LEZ Brussels: non-compliant vehicle | € 350 per finding from 1 July 2026 |
| LEZ Brussels: Euro 5 diesel and Euro 2 petrol | no longer admitted since 1 January 2026 |
| LEZ Ghent: Euro 5 diesel | free access in 2026; evaluation in 2027 |
The LEZ: register your plate — even if the car complies
Three cities have a low-emission zone, and 2026 is the year of confusion there.
- Brussels has banned Euro 5 diesel and Euro 2 petrol since 1 January 2026. The announced postponement was suspended by the Constitutional Court. From 1 July 2026 Brussels fines a non-compliant vehicle € 350 per finding.
- Ghent deliberately did not tighten in 2026: a Euro 5 diesel may still enter there in 2026, and the Flemish government evaluates in 2027.
For Dutch plates the same, often missed rule applies in the zones: register in advance, even with a compliant or electric car. Driving without registration costs € 150 in Brussels.
Whoever has an older diesel therefore does the sum before the move: a Euro 5 diesel and an address in Brussels no longer go together.
The thirteen weeks and the LEZ run at the same time. Whoever deregisters the car first and only then books the inspection loses weeks of the BPM clock; whoever drives in Brussels or Ghent in those weeks without registration collects fines. Register the Dutch plate the day after arrival, and book the inspection before the export notification.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Belgium.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Dutch Tax Administration — BPM refund on export (conditions) — belastingdienst.nl
- RDW — exporting a vehicle, the export certificate, the costs and the export plate — rdw.nl
- FPS Mobility — importing and registering a vehicle — mobilit.belgium.be
- GOCA Flanders — the second-hand inspection before registration, and the visual inspection — gocavlaanderen.be
- Flanders — BIV and road tax (with simulator) — vlaanderen.be
- Wallonia — the reformed car taxation since 1 July 2025 — finances.wallonie.be
- LEZ Brussels — calendar, registration and fines — lez.brussels
- City of Ghent — low-emission zone admission conditions 2026 — stad.gent
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