In 2023, the government will rake in hundreds of millions more in road tax

The motor vehicle tax is made up of a national part and a part that goes to the provinces. Statistics Netherlands has calculated that the central government share will generate €4.52 billion for the state treasury in 2023. That is 3.5 percent more than this year. Although Statistics Netherlands has already fully taken this into account, the percentage by which the rates for the government part in the mrb will be increased has not yet been officially published.

Interestingly, electric cars are exempt from motor vehicle tax until 2024, and plug-in hybrids with emissions of less than 50 grams of CO2/km are subject to a 50 percent discount until 2024. Despite the inhibiting effect of an increase in the number of EVs in the Netherlands, considerably higher income from the MRB is therefore expected.

Provinces also expect to receive more income from motor vehicle tax in 2023. €67 million more, to be exact. This is a total amount of €1.8 billion, 3.8 percent more than in 2022. This increase is also mainly due to higher rates, but also due to an expected increase in the vehicle fleet. Provinces are allowed to determine the surcharge rate themselves. That differs per province. The highest surcharge rate applies in Groningen and South Holland. That is no less than 95.7 percent. In North Holland, car owners pay the lowest rate: 67.9 percent. Half of all provinces will increase the surcharge rate in 2023. In South Holland it will increase the most in 2023, by 3.9 percentage points. It is therefore not surprising that Zuid-Holland – together with Flevoland – is the province that will see the strongest increase in its income from MRB in 2023. The expected growth and composition of the fleet also plays a role here.