Is there still a subsidy for buying an electric car in the Netherlands?
The purchase subsidy for private buyers closed on 1 January 2025.¹ With that scheme gone, the cost of driving electric here is now mostly a tax question.
Bijtelling is the taxable benefit of a business car, road tax is motorrijtuigenbelasting and BPM is the registration tax. We take you through all three.
Three readers use this page: a private buyer, a business owner with a car on the books and someone offered one through work. Each of the three meets a different combination of the three.
This page covers passenger cars that run fully on electricity. It leaves out plug-in hybrids, electric vans, home charge points and anything your municipality may offer. This is general information, not personal advice.
Tarik runs his own project-management business in Rotterdam. He drives a fully electric car that belongs to the business.
These are the points that affect what you pay.
In short
The purchase subsidy for a privately bought electric car ended on 1 January 2025.
A trade-in scheme for a second-hand electric car is expected, but it is not final yet.
Bijtelling is a taxable benefit for private use of a business car. The rate is 18% of the catalogue value up to €30,000 for cars first registered in 2026.
Above €30,000 the rate on the rest of the catalogue value is 22%.
Road tax on an electric passenger car gets a 30% discount in 2026. You pay 70% of the normal rate.
The BPM exemption for zero-emission passenger cars ended on 1 January 2025.
Your bijtelling percentage depends on the year of first registration. It stays fixed for 60 months.
What happened to the electric car subsidy?
The old scheme paid a fixed amount towards the purchase and no longer exists.¹ Its full name was the Subsidieregeling Elektrische Personenauto's Particulieren, the subsidy for private buyers of an electric car.¹ Most people knew it as the SEPP.
Your province or municipality may run something of its own, so it is worth a look before you buy.
The government announced a new scheme in April 2026 for people on a low or middle income.² They would scrap an old petrol or diesel car and buy a second-hand fully electric one instead. Parliament still has to approve it.
So what exactly has been announced?
What do you pay on an electric car in 2026?
One addition to your taxable income and two taxes: bijtelling, motorrijtuigenbelasting and BPM.
Bijtelling is the taxable benefit for private use of a car that belongs to your business.³ You add a percentage of the catalogue value to your profit.³ The catalogue value is the Dutch list price including VAT and BPM.³
You add nothing if you can show that you drove no more than 500 private kilometres in the year.³ ⁴
Motorrijtuigenbelasting is the road tax you pay for owning a car. A zero-emission passenger car still gets a discount on that rate in 2026.⁵
BPM is the registration tax you pay when a car first enters the Dutch register. An electric car emits no CO2, so it pays only the fixed base amount, the vaste voet.⁶
The table below sets the three side by side, plus the two vehicle types that fall outside the discount.
| What you pay | When you pay it | Electric car in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Bijtelling | Your business or your employer provides the car and you drive it privately | 18% of catalogue value up to €30,000 then 22%, cars registered in 2026³ |
| Motorrijtuigenbelasting | You own the car | 70% of the normal rate, a discount of 30%⁵ |
| BPM | The car first enters the Dutch register | The fixed base amount only |
| Motorrijtuigenbelasting on a plug-in hybrid or electric van | You own one of these instead of a full electric car | No road-tax discount after 2025 |
How much bijtelling do you add for an electric car?
You add 18% of the catalogue value up to €30,000, then 22% above it.³
Your percentage stays fixed for 60 months.³ That period starts on the first day of the month after the month of first registration.³ A later rate rise does not affect your car until that period ends.
Does your employer provide the car instead? Then your bijtelling goes through your payroll, not your profit. The same 18% and 22% apply, set by the year of first registration.³ Your employer withholds the tax each month through your payslip.
The reduced percentage increases every year until the ceiling disappears, as the table shows.
| Year of first registration | Reduced rate up to €30,000 | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17% | Cars from 2025, closed year |
| 2026 | 18% | Cars from 2026, 22% above the ceiling |
| 2027 | 20% | Scheduled |
| 2028 | 22% | Scheduled, the ceiling ends |
How much bijtelling does Tarik add in 2026?
Tarik adds €8,700 to his profit for the year.
His car has a catalogue value of €45,000 and first entered the register in 2026. The 2026 percentages therefore apply. He drives well over 500 private kilometres a year, which is what brings the bijtelling into play.
The first €30,000 counts at 18%, which gives €5,400. The remaining €15,000 counts at 22%, which gives €3,300. Together that is €8,700 a year on top of his profit.
What he pays on that amount depends on his own income tax rate. Our page on work and income sets out the rates that apply. His 18% holds for 60 months. The step to 20% in 2027 does not change his rate.
Knowing the amount is one thing. Putting it in the right place in your return is the next step.
What do you pay if you buy the electric car yourself?
You pay road tax at 70% of the normal rate.⁵ BPM you pay once, at the fixed base amount only.⁶
That 30% discount on motorrijtuigenbelasting applies from 2026 through 2028.⁵ In 2029 the discount drops to 25%.⁵ From 2030 an electric car pays the full rate.⁵
The discount evens out the weight of the battery. The rate follows the weight of the car.⁵ It covers new and second-hand zero-emission passenger cars alike.⁷ A plug-in hybrid or an electric van gets no discount after 2025.⁷
BPM works differently. The exemption for zero-emission passenger cars ended on 1 January 2025.⁶ The fixed base amount moves with the tax year. For a new passenger car it is €687 in 2026.⁶ We check it against the figure for the year your car goes on the register.
Do you bring an electric car with you from abroad? Then it enters the Dutch register for the first time, so BPM applies.⁶ Are you moving your household to the Netherlands? Then a removal exemption may apply, depending on your situation. We check the conditions of that exemption with you before you register the car. Otherwise the amount depends on the age of the car and the tax year.
How does our advisor look at that choice?
“People still come in asking which subsidy they can claim. The honest answer is that the money now sits in the running costs, not in a one-off payment. We work out what the car adds to your tax bill before you sign anything.”
What should you check before you buy?
Check the tax year, the catalogue value and who owns the car.
Your bijtelling percentage is set by the year of first registration and then holds for 60 months.³ The road-tax discount steps down over the years.⁵ They matter more the longer you keep the car.
Do you want to put the car on your business? Then depreciation and the investment allowances come into play. We check which ones still apply to an electric passenger car. Our page on deductible business costs shows how a car sits among your other expenses. If you work for yourself, the page on the self-employed deduction covers the reliefs around it.
Thinking about two wheels instead? Our page on the company bike scheme covers the bike and its own bijtelling rate.
We look at the car alongside the rest of your return, so nothing comes as a surprise. Tarik runs the same three checks. His rate stays fixed for now.
¹ rvo.nl, Subsidieregeling Elektrische Personenauto's Particulieren (SEPP) · Accessed
³ belastingdienst.nl, Bijtelling privégebruik auto 2026 · Accessed
⁴ ondernemersplein.overheid.nl, Auto van de zaak, English version at business.gov.nl · Accessed
⁵ rijksoverheid.nl, Belastingvoordelen voor schone en zuinige auto's en motoren · Accessed
⁶ belastingdienst.nl, BPM for a passenger car · Accessed
Common questions about electric cars and Dutch tax
Is there a subsidy for a second-hand electric car in the Netherlands?
A national scheme for a used electric car is expected, but it is not in force. The government announced it in April 2026 for lower and middle incomes, alongside scrapping an old fossil-fuel car. Parliament has yet to approve it.
Do I pay road tax on an electric car?
Yes, at 70% of the normal rate in 2026. The discount of 30% holds through 2028, then falls to 25% in 2029. From 2030 you pay the full weight-based rate.
What is the bijtelling on an electric car in 2026?
You add 18% of the catalogue value up to €30,000 and 22% over that. This applies to cars first registered in 2026. A car from an earlier year keeps its own rate for 60 months. A hydrogen car or a solar-cell car keeps 18% over the whole value. Catalogue value here means the Dutch list price including VAT and BPM.
Do I pay BPM on an electric car?
Yes, an electric car pays the fixed base amount of BPM. The exemption for zero-emission passenger cars ran until the start of 2025. Zero CO2 means nothing comes on top of that base amount.
Does my bijtelling percentage change every year?
No, your percentage holds for 60 months. It starts on the first day of the month after the month of first registration. After those 60 months the rules of that later year set a new percentage.
Can I put an electric car on my business?
Yes. The normal rules for a business asset then apply. Depreciation and the investment allowances are part of that picture.
My employer gives me an electric car. Do the same percentages apply?
Yes, the same percentages apply.³ For a car first registered in 2026 that is 18% up to €30,000 and 22% above. The percentage follows the car and its year of first registration. With an employer's car, your employer handles the bijtelling through the payroll. Do you pay your employer a contribution for private use? Then it comes off your bijtelling.