The cost of running a car in NL

Owning a car in the Netherlands can be a very expensive business due a mix of complex bureaucracy and heavy taxation. The best bet is to lease a car through your employer and then reclaim some of the running costs through expense claims.

If you do more than 500kms per year of private motoring then you have to pay a monthly tax that is based upon a percentage of the purchase price of the car when it was new. This rate normally starts at 14%, and is known as Bijtelling, although some low-emission vehicles are tax-free. If you wish to get a tax exemption because you do no private mileage then you have to apply personally to the Belastingdienst.

In order to reclaim your business travel you need to record the odometer settings at the start and end of each journey, and retain all your fuel (VAT) receipts.

If you buy a car you also have to get car insurance and pay another monthly TAX (wegenbalasting). As in Germany diesels are Each year your car has to be tested for road worthiness (APK) which is like the UK MOT.

You must always carry your driver's licence or passport when you drive, and keep the vehicle registration documents in the vehicle in case you are stopped by the police. Failure to produce your documents can result in a large on the spot fine!You should also carry a warning-triangle for use in case you breakdown.

Ziggo digital TV

I have finally fixed all my issues with this system. The box requires a lot of ventilation or it just overheats within an hour and you then have to power-off for several hours in order to cool it completely. The best solution is to have the box stood on a hard surface, and without anything else stacked above or below it. If you call Ziggo technical support they seem completely clueless about this kind of problem.