British company car in Belgium

Who owns the car?

I do, it's my car

There's nothing stopping you doing either;  I guess it depends on how badly you want to keep the car.

If you register/insure it in Belgium, then you have the issue of a right-hand drive car driving on the right-hand side of the road, with the safety issues that can arise when trying to overtake.  There is also likely to be an insurance premium for driving what they view as a non-standard car (parts for a RHD vehicle will cost more in Belgium and affect your premium price).

There are also technical issues to consider; for example, parts that are unique to a right-hand drive car may be different; I had a RHD Mitsubishi that I brought to the Netherlands and the exhaust ran down the opposite side to the LHD models, so it curved the wrong way, so I had to import one from Japan as it was a grey import and parts not held by the UK dealer network.  The headlights dipped the wrong way, so I had to replace them (not so much an issue on today's cars as you can alter that in the vehicle set up controls).

If you transfer ownership to your business, then it becomes an asset of the company, one for which you may have to pay both personal (BIK) taxes and CGT business taxes.  You'll also need to speak to your current insurer and get their view; many/most/all UK Insurance companies have restrictions on insuring foreign registered cars.

I think the easiest option would be to take it back to the UK and sell it, using the money you get to buy a Belgian registered car; you'll probably take a hit, but now the Police are aware, you need to do something sooner rather than later.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

Hi Cynic, thanks for your help, and I agree with your points.

I definitely won't be re-registering it in Belgium. Not because of sitting on the wrong side of the car, I have no problem with that. But because of all the paperwork involved, and like you said the availability of parts and the extra insurance costs etc for a RHD. I won't be registering it to my UK company either, mainly because I'm still not convinced that it will be accepted by the Belgian authorities, I'm sure there will be some conditions like I have to be always using it for only work activities for example. Also, like you said, there will be tax implications for my company in the UK. So I have decided to take it back to England and leave it there. I still spend a lot of time in England working and visiting family so I still need a car there. Eventually I will have to get a Belgian car and a Belgian driving licence, because I will be working here in Belgium too. Travel between the two countries will be restricted to public transport only, which is more expensive and takes longer. But I don't have much choice. Hopefully I never have to carry anything heavy.

Thanks again for your help

If you are moving your residency in Belgium then you also need to 'move' your car, driving license, pay taxes here etc. There is a grace period of 6 months for 6 and up to 1 year for driving license.

You can also do some 'tricks' such as keeping the car under somebody's else name. But as others have said it is a headache. All the time you will have to argue with the police if stopped. Also your UK insurance could be void if they prove that you are spending long time outside UK.

If your intention is to live here I'd recommend to swap the driving license for a Belgian one.

Get a Belgian car. You can still visit UK on a Belgian car. That is perfectly fine. Not sure about car taxes but insurance wise I think it is much cheaper in Belgium than UK. Also our driving licenses are not point based so it is win-win