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

Four hours' drive away and without a border, the car looks like the easiest part of a move to Luxembourg. And it is — if you know the order.

No excise duty, no VAT as relocation goods

Luxembourg charges no excise duty on a car from another EU country. On a used car no VAT is due either if it's 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.

The clock: six months

Within six months of your arrival report at the commune 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 — an assigned number is not yet a registration — have the plates printed by an approved maker, and take out Luxembourg third-party insurance.
2. Customs. At an office of the Administration des douanes et accises you get the vignette 705. That is needed for a car from the EU too; it's the proof that the VAT side is in order.
3. The inspection and the registration. If your Dutch inspection still holds, you bring that proof; otherwise an SNCT station inspects the car. Then you submit the registration form at one of the three SNCA centres, with a fiscal stamp of 50 euros, the proof of ownership, the foreign registration certificate, the insurance, the vignette 705 and your identity document.

After the registration you get a provisional tax sticker of thirty days and pay the annual road tax, the Autosteier, to customs — by emissions, so a heavy car pays more.

The driving licence: not exchanging, but registering

A valid driving licence from an EEA country doesn't need exchanging; it stays valid in Luxembourg. But do have it registered with the SNCA: that's free, and then the SNCA can give you a duplicate if you lose it. Exchanging is also possible, for 30 euros, at the earliest a hundred and eighty-five days after settling, with a passport photo, an extract from the Luxembourg criminal record and a copy of your licence.

Exchanging becomes mandatory if you want to add a category or after a restriction or withdrawal. And one rule is always hard: as soon as you live in Luxembourg, you may no longer renew your licence in the Netherlands. If it expires, you exchange it here.