As of April 30, tomorrow, the tax on an imported used used car will increase slightly. From then on, a recycling fee of 30 euros will be included when importing a used car.
Outgoing State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) has decided to do so. The recycling contribution has existed for a few years as a one-off contribution on top of the purchase price of a passenger car or light commercial vehicle in the Netherlands. From tomorrow, the compulsory contribution applies to all cars for which a Dutch registration is requested, so from now on also for cars imported from abroad. Until now, these have escaped the dance. It does not matter for paying the contribution whether the used car was imported by a private person or car company. Every year, approximately 240,000, mostly used cars are imported into the Netherlands from other countries in the Netherlands. An enormous number, if you consider that roughly 400,000 new cars are sold directly in the Netherlands.
The collection of the ‘new’ recycling fee is carried out by the RDW, which takes care of the number plate registration of motorized vehicles in the Netherlands. For new cars brought to the Netherlands by the official importer, the importer pays the recycling fee paid by the customer. All income from the recycling contribution will ultimately go to ARN, the organization that coordinates the recycling of cars in the Netherlands.
Earlier this week, ARN announced how efficient the recycling of cars is in the Netherlands. No less than 98.3 percent of a car’s total weight is recycled.