Electric cars will pay full MRB

The 2025 budget memorandum made it clear that electric cars will soon pay the full MRB.

Slowly but surely, the discount for electric cars is disappearing when it comes to motor vehicle tax (MRB). Owners of an electric passenger car currently enjoy 0 euros in road tax. This will change in the coming years.

As was announced earlier this year with the Spring Memorandum 2024, it has been decided that the government will phase out the discount on motor vehicle tax for EVs. In the budget of 2025, the government provided more clarification.

As more and more electric cars appear on the market, there is also the chance that fewer and fewer motorists will pay road tax. While the government is facing financial challenges. Giving out presents is no longer an option, for example the discontinuation of the SEPP subsidy is a good example of this.

Speaking of which, the government says that the subsidy for used electric cars, originating from the 2023 spring memorandum, has been scrapped from 2025 in order to pay for the correction in the MRB.

New figures show that the discount costs (too) much money, in plain language. In the 2025 budget statement it is described somewhat more formally:

Setback in motor vehicle tax rate reduction for zero-emission cars: The new figures show that the
budgetary loss turns out to be considerably higher than previously estimated

Budget Memorandum 2025

Tariff discount: 25% in 2025, 0% in 2030

To compensate for the setback, there will be a 25% reduction in the MRB rate for owners of an electric car as of 2026. This means that EV drivers will still be exempt from road tax in 2025. From 2026, this group will receive a 25 percent reduction in the then applicable rate. The government will gradually reduce the reduction over the years. From 2030, owners of electric cars will pay the full MRB.

Electric car more expensive in MRB than petrol car

If the discount is completely gone, it means that an electric car is more expensive in the MRB compared to a comparable petrol car. We are only talking about 2030, so you never know if a next cabinet will throw the plans into disarray again.

Due to the weight of the battery, an electric car is hundreds of kilos heavier compared to a petrol car. The bigger the car and the heavier the battery, the bigger the difference.

ANWB response

The ANWB is not happy with the government’s turn. Where electric cars were previously stimulated, this new cabinet makes an EV less attractive, according to ANWB CEO Marga de Jager.

According to the ANWB, the costs are rising rapidly. As early as 2026, an electric car would be 8,000 euros more expensive than if you had bought the same car in 2022.

Buying an (electric) car is a big investment, then you have to be able to count on predictability of the associated tax. Due to this rapid reduction, people who have just made a big investment in an electric car are suddenly confronted with an increasing MRB bill.”

Marga de Jager, CEO ANWB

Comments

1. mattr say

   Well, from a government perspective, the loss of MRB pales in comparison to the loss of excise duty revenue on fuel when everyone plugs in

   • gdjnl say

     Well less (for now…), but don’t forget that energy costs also consist for the most part of tax and on top of that VAT. 😉 In addition, the charging station company also pays tax on the fees and profit on every kWh.

     • buddy say

       You just forget that making gasoline requires more energy to drive a car 100 km on gasoline than an EV to drive 100 km on electricity

2. pee cheese say

   But will you get a 25% discount in 2026, or will you ‘only’ have to pay 25% (and therefore get a 75% discount)?

   Because otherwise there is little to ‘deconstruct’, I think?

3. Hubert say

   Why not pay in full as of 01-01-2025?
   It’s simple to arrange.
   Then second-hand BEVs will become a lot more affordable.

4. iphonistvongates say

   The principle of equality is then applied to all road users. Deep in our asphalt black hearts we are all hardcore communists, it turns out. +8 for democracy!

5. RickB say

   But no one heard about what scale they are going to use? Equal to petrol, diesel or half of petrol?

6. Troublemaker say

   The paragraph title states “Tariff discount: 25% in 2025, 0% in 2030” and the text states “MRB of 25% for owners of an electric car as of 2026”. Is it 2025 or 2026? I can’t find the above percentages in the budget either.

   • Troublemaker say

     Apologies, it is on p.49 of the budget statement: 25% by 2026. I was browsing through the thicker appendix.

7. HZW say

   As if all this comes as a surprise, I have seen this coming for years, that this would happen.
   No MRB was also a lure to get people into an EV, and now that you have one, it’s your turn.

   And furthermore, we create space in the overload of the power grid, because with the introduction of MRB even fewer people will buy an EV, and many people will switch to a Hybrid car for their next car.

   And due to the abolition of the net metering scheme as of 2027, the power grid will be even less overloaded, because everyone will have to rely on their home battery en masse.