Company van

Do you need a company van for your business? First, find out if the van you have chosen is also considered a van in the Tax Administration’s definition. You can check this using the schematic overview of van requirements on Belastingdienst.nl (in Dutch). Does your van not meet the requirements? Then, in terms of motor vehicle tax (mrb) and private vehicle and motorcycle tax (bpm), your van is considered a car.

Private use of your company van

In nearly all cases, the rules for private use of a company car also apply to a company van. There is an exception for vans that can only be used to transport goods. For example, vans that only have a driver’s seat, and no possibility to (re)install a passenger seat. Do you own such a van? For income tax purposes, you set off the costs of the van against the number of privately driven kilometres (at the actual price per kilometre). You may deduct the remainder from your business profit.

Simplified kilometre record

Calculating the private use of a company van is not always easy. For instance, does one of your employees drive the van several times in one day? Keeping a complete kilometre record (autorittenregistratie, in Dutch) can be a huge administrative burden. There is a practical scheme in place to help you with this. Your employee may demonstrate how many kilometres they have driven privately using a simplified kilometre record. The most important data in such a record are:

• Customers’ business addresses (as listed in your company records)
• The number of visits to customers in one day
• The order of the visits

You must have a written agreement with your employee, stating that:

• Your employee keeps a simplified kilometre record.
• Your employee does not use the van privately during working and lunch hours.

You keep the customers’ business addresses in your company records. The Tax Administration has set up an example of such an agreement (in Dutch) for a simplified kilometre record together with several stakeholder organisations.

Business use only

Do you use the company van for business purposes only? Then it is advisable to send a statement to that effect, known as a ‘Verklaring uitsluitend zakelijk gebruik bestelauto', to the Tax Administration. You can fill out the statement online using ‘Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk’ (in Dutch). Once you have filed this statement, you:

• do not have to take into account any private use when calculating your business profit;
• do not have to keep a kilometre registration.

There are some conditions:

• You are not allowed to use the van for private purposes at all.
• If there are any changes in the way you use the van, you must notify the Tax Administration.

It is also advisable to keep work orders and other paper evidence of the company use of your van. They will make it easier for you to prove you only use the van for company purposes.