Company car & bijtelling: exactly how it works (2026)

If your employer gives you a car (an auto van de zaak) — or you put a car on your own business — and you also drive it privately, the tax office treats that private use as income in kind (loon in natura). The extra taxable amount is called bijtelling. Here's exactly how it's calculated and how to control it.

The basic mechanism

Bijtelling is a percentage of the car's cataloguswaarde (the manufacturer's list price including VAT and BPM) added to your Box 1 income. You then pay income tax on it at your marginal rate — so the bruto bijtelling is not what you pay; your tax bracket determines the real cost.

Formula: cataloguswaarde × bijtelling % = annual bijtelling → added to income → taxed at your bracket.

The 500 km rule

Bijtelling only applies if you drive more than 500 private kilometres per year. If you stay at or below 500 km and can prove it, you owe nothing.

• Proof is a sluitende rittenregistratie (a watertight trip log) plus a Verklaring geen privégebruik auto from the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority).
• Commuting (woon-werk) counts as business, not private — a common and costly misunderstanding.
• No log = the tax office assumes you exceed 500 km and applies full bijtelling.

The 2026 percentages

Car type (first registered in 2026)	Bijtelling
Petrol, diesel, and plug-in hybrid (PHEV)	22% of full cataloguswaarde
Full-electric (zero-emission)	18% up to €30,000, 22% above
Hydrogen / integrated-solar (≥1 kWp, no lead battery)	18% of the full value (no €30k cap)

PHEVs no longer get the low rate in 2026 — because they emit CO₂, they're taxed like petrol cars at 22%.

Worked example — electric, €40,000 list price: €30,000 × 18% = €5,400, plus €10,000 × 22% = €2,200 → €7,600 bijtelling/year. If you're in the ~37% bracket, that's roughly €2,800 in actual tax.

The EV rate is rising — and it locks for 60 months

The electric discount is being phased out: 16% (2024) → 17% (2025) → 18% (2026) → 20% (2027) → 22% (2028), when the €30,000 cap disappears entirely.

Crucially, the percentage that applies at the car's first registration date (datum eerste toelating, DET) stays fixed for 60 months. Register an EV in 2026 and you keep 18% (over the first €30k) until 2031 — so the registration date is worth planning around.

Two ways to lower it

1. Eigen bijdrage: if you pay your employer a monthly contribution for private use, it reduces the bijtelling euro-for-euro (e.g. €200/month → €2,400 less bijtelling per year).
2. Youngtimer: a car that's old enough is taxed at 35% of its current market value (dagwaarde) instead of the (much higher) list price — often cheaper in practice. From 2026 the car must be ≥16 years (was 15); cars already over 15 on 31 December 2025 still qualify in 2026. From 2027 the threshold jumps to 25 years, so this window is closing fast.

If you're self-employed (ZZP)

If the car is business property (ondernemingsvermogen), the bijtelling for private use is capped at your total annual car costs on the business (fuel, road tax, insurance, maintenance, depreciation) — you can never be taxed on more than the car actually cost the business.

The alternative is to keep the car private and deduct a kilometre allowance for business trips — €0.25/km in 2026 (up from €0.23). For low-mileage drivers, the private-car-plus-allowance route is increasingly the cheaper option, so it's worth comparing both. (See ZZP vs BV for the broader structure question.)

One thing for employers

A new pseudo-eindheffing (52% of the bijtelling) on fossil-fuel company cars is being developed in the 2026 tax plan. It applies to employers only — not to an eenmanszaak or VOF — and can't be passed on to the employee.

Quick checklist

• Driving >500 km private? Expect bijtelling. Under 500? Keep a watertight log.
• Remember commuting = business.
• PHEV = 22% in 2026; full-electric gets 18% up to €30k.
• Your DET locks the EV rate for 60 months — plan registration timing.
• ZZP: compare car-on-business (capped) vs private car + €0.25/km.

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See how bijtelling lands in your overall tax in Understanding Box 1, and model your take-home with the net salary calculator.

Rates: 2026 — verified against the Belastingdienst, plus accountancy and fleet sources. The youngtimer and pseudo-eindheffing rules are still being finalised. DutchNewcomer provides information, not tax advice.