How to De-register a Car for Export in 7 Countries

What does de-registering a car for export do for you?

De-registering takes a car off your country's vehicle register because it is leaving the country for good. This page is about a car that is still registered in your country when you sell it abroad. That can be a car in your company's name, or a trade-in that still carries its plates.

Three things happen when the register entry ends. Road tax stops. You can close the insurance. And you hold a dated proof that the car left your name. That proof is what you show when a fine or a tax bill arrives after the sale.

Your buyer needs it too. Some countries will not register an imported car until the origin country has taken it off its register. Spain is one of them.

The filing itself costs little. What costs money is a car that stays on the register after it has gone. Road tax, insurance and fines keep running in your name.

What it is not. A sale inside your own country is not an export de-registration, and neither is scrapping. A car handed to an authorized scrapyard in Spain can no longer be exported. And taking a car off your register does not register it for your buyer. They do that in their own country.

What does it cost, and which plate does the car leave on?

The filing is cheap everywhere. The export plate is usually the bigger cost, and it decides how long the car has to leave.

Where is the car registered?	What does de-registering cost?	Which plate does the car leave on?
Belgium	Free; postage extra	X plate, €75, 30 days
France	No fee: you declare the sale	The car keeps its French plates
Germany	Set locally; Berlin €3.30 online	Export plate, up to 1 year, from €33.20 in Berlin
Netherlands	€12	White export plates, 14 days, included
Poland	10 zł	Temporary export plates, 30 days, 111 zł
Portugal	€10	Customs export plate, for a non-resident driver
Spain	€8.67	Green plates, €20.61, 60 days

Fees checked on 22 September 2026. The Dutch and Spanish fees change each January, and German fees differ by office.

Use the export plate, with insurance and a valid inspection, or put the car on a truck. Dealer plates are not a safe choice for the trip: several of them are refused abroad, as the country sections below show. The transit plates guide covers the documents and insurance per country.

How do you de-register a car for export in Belgium?

Belgium de-registers the plate, not the car. Since 1 August 2025 only the DIV, the Belgian vehicle registration service, does it.

Where do you file?	Post the rear plate to the DIV, or drop it in the box at the DIV in Brussels.
Who can file?	The plate holder. A business can send up to 80 plates in one box, or use crates for weekly volumes.
What does it cost?	Nothing. Postage is extra: €19.99 with bpost's plate service.
Which plate does the car leave on?	An X plate: €75, valid 30 days. Other EU countries do not have to recognize Belgian Z plates, so do not use those for the trip.
Is there a deadline?	No deadline, but the date that counts is the day the DIV receives the plate. Post it at least five working days before month-end.
What proof do you keep?	The de-registration certificate. It is not sent to you: you download it from the DIV portal.
What trips dealers up?	Road tax stops on the day the DIV receives the plate, but insurance does not. Cancel it with your insurer. Until the plate is in, road tax and fines stay with the plate holder.
Can you get tax back?	In Flanders and Wallonia, yes. The registration tax is refunded in full if the car is registered in another EU country within 6 months of its Belgian registration. Brussels does not list export as a reason for a refund.

Do you de-register a car for export in France?

No. France has no export de-registration for used cars. You file the ordinary sale declaration instead, and the car keeps its French registration until your buyer registers it at home.

Where do you file?	On ANTS, online only. You declare the sale with your buyer's details and give them the transfer code.
Who can file?	The seller, or a registered vehicle-registration professional.
What does it cost?	There is no ANTS fee.
Which plate does the car leave on?	The car keeps its French plates.
Is there a deadline?	Declare the sale within 15 days.
What proof do you keep?	The ANTS receipt and the crossed-out registration certificate. Cross it out, write the date and time of the sale on it, and sign it. The receipt is what you send to contest a fine that arrives after the sale.
What trips dealers up?	Before the sale, give your buyer the administrative status certificate from HistoVec, less than 15 days old. A pledge or an opposition on the record blocks the sale until it is lifted. Tell your insurer yourself.

How do you de-register a car for export in Germany?

In Germany you de-register the car (Abmeldung) with the local registration office, and most dealers do it online.

Where do you file?	Online through i-Kfz, using the security codes on registration certificate part I and the plate seals, or at the local registration office. Companies with more than 500 filings a year can connect to the federal motor authority's bulk interface.
Who can file?	The owner or a representative.
What does it cost?	Each office sets its own fee. In Berlin it is €3.30 online and €17.10 at the counter.
Which plate does the car leave on?	An export plate (Ausfuhrkennzeichen), valid up to 1 year, from €33.20 in Berlin. It needs part II, the inspection report, export insurance and a direct-debit mandate for the vehicle tax. You can go straight to the export plate without de-registering first.
Is there a deadline?	None.
What proof do you keep?	A dated note on registration certificate part I. The office tells customs and your insurer for you, so vehicle tax and insurance end.
What trips dealers up?	The de-registration needs part I and the plates only, so a bank holding part II does not stop it. It does stop the export plate. Short-term and red dealer plates are not accepted in every country, so use the export plate for the trip.

How do you de-register a car for export in the Netherlands?

In the Netherlands you ask the RDW, the Dutch vehicle authority, to give the car export status.

Where do you file?	At an RDW desk, or online from your own address with the RDW export recognition (erkenning Export).
Who can file?	The owner, or a recognized company, for its own cars and for cars it exports for other owners. Whoever takes the car abroad must be present with ID, and the export certificate is written in their name.
What does it cost?	€12 at an RDW desk. With the export recognition, each filing is €11.60, after €246 to apply and €125 a year.
Which plate does the car leave on?	White export plates, valid 14 days and included in the fee. The car needs insurance and a valid inspection (APK).
Is there a deadline?	None.
What proof do you keep?	The indemnity certificate (vrijwaringsbewijs) and the export certificate. The indemnity certificate is the proof that the car left your name.
What trips dealers up?	The RDW's advice is to let your foreign buyer file the export in their own name. If you file it in yours, you stay responsible until the car is registered abroad.
Can you get tax back?	Yes, the remaining BPM. The car must be registered for good in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway within 13 weeks of the export status, and have had its first Dutch plate on or after 16 October 2006. The claim is a printed form, signed and posted to the Dutch tax office.

How do you de-register a car for export in Poland?

In Poland there are two filings, and only one is compulsory: the sale notice. De-registration for export is optional.

Where do you file?	The sale notice has an online form on gov.pl. The de-registration is filed at the office of the last registration, in person or by post.
Who can file?	The owner, or a representative (17 zł per power of attorney).
What does it cost?	The sale notice is free. De-registration costs 10 zł.
Which plate does the car leave on?	Temporary export plates, valid 30 days, for 111 zł. Since 10 June 2026 a foreign buyer with no seat in Poland can get them at the office where they collected the car. If they sign the export statement when they take the plates, the office de-registers the car with no separate request.
Is there a deadline?	File the sale notice within 30 days of any sale, including to a buyer abroad. Missing it costs 250 zł.
What proof do you keep?	The de-registration decision and the invalidated registration certificate. For the de-registration you attach proof of the sale abroad, or a copy of the new foreign registration.
What trips dealers up?	If you skip the de-registration, the office does it itself, but only once another EU country reports the new registration. That can take up to two months. Compulsory insurance passes to the buyer, but tell your insurer in writing within 14 days or you share the premium until you do.

How do you de-register a car for export in Portugal?

In Portugal you cancel the registration at a counter of the IMT, the Portuguese vehicle authority.

Where do you file?	At an IMT counter. Bring the registration certificate and proof that the car left Portugal, or a copy of its new foreign registration.
Who can file?	The owner signs the form, or someone with a power of attorney signs for the company.
What does it cost?	€10. It is free with a copy of the new EU registration.
Which plate does the car leave on?	A customs export plate, for a non-resident driver.
Is there a deadline?	Request it within 30 days of the export. The fine is €60 to €300.
What proof do you keep?	The IMT cancellation.
What trips dealers up?	A registered lien blocks the cancellation. The yearly circulation tax (IUC) stops for later years. From 2027 it is assessed on 1 January, so cancel a car that leaves late in the year before 31 December.
Can you get tax back?	Yes, part of the registration tax (ISV), if the car leaves within three years of its first registration: 75% in the first year, 50% in the second and 25% in the third. Claim it at customs within a year, with the cancellation and the new foreign registration.

How do you de-register a car for export in Spain?

In Spain you request a permanent de-registration for export (baja por exportación) from the DGT, the Spanish traffic authority.

Where do you file?	Online with the DGT. Companies and their representatives cannot use the appointment counter. That route is for private individuals.
Who can file?	The holder or a representative.
What does it cost?	€8.67, and free after 15 years.
Which plate does the car leave on?	Green export plates (placas verdes): €20.61, valid 60 days. They need the de-registration, the ITV inspection and insurance. Red dealer plates are not valid outside Spain.
Is there a deadline?	Once de-registered, the car must leave Spain within 90 days, or the DGT puts it back on the register.
What proof do you keep?	The DGT confirmation. Municipal road tax stops at the end of the quarter.
What trips dealers up?	For a car over 4 years old, an inspection (ITV) must be on record, passed within the last 30 days if none is registered electronically. Finance on the car, a leasing note or a court seizure blocks the request until it is cleared.

Do you also need the EX-A?

Only when the car leaves the EU. A sale to another EU country has no customs step: the register step above is all there is. A sale to a country outside the EU has two steps. You de-register the car, and the export declaration (EX-A) is filed with customs before the car leaves. The EX-A is what proves the car left the EU, and that proof is what lets you sell without VAT.

Where the export plate needs a prior de-registration, as in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, do the register step first. The customs step follows. The EX-A page explains the declaration and the proof of exit.

What does eCarsTrade do, and what not?

This page is about cars your business already owns. eCarsTrade does not de-register those, and we cannot get transit plates for you. For the registration status of a car you bought from us, in its origin country, ask your account manager.

Where we do help is a car you buy from us and sell outside the EU. We prepare the EX-A for €50, shown on your proforma. Request it on your Personal Page before pick-up and name the last EU border crossing. As a non-EU buyer you pay a VAT deposit with the price, for example 21% on a car from Belgium. We refund it once the car has left and customs has confirmed the EX-A.

What does de-registration not do?

It does not register the car for your buyer. Re-registration is your buyer's step, in their own country, with the papers you hand over.
It does not end your insurance everywhere. In Belgium and France you cancel it yourself. In Poland it passes to the buyer once you have told the insurer.
It does not replace the customs step. For a car leaving the EU, the EX-A is a separate filing.
It is not the same at every office. Polish offices differ in the documents they ask for, and German fees are set locally. Call the office before you go.
It does not cover private moves or scrapping. This page is for dealers selling stock abroad. A scrapped car cannot be exported.

We checked the rules against EU law and the official registration, transport, tax and customs authorities of the seven countries on 22 September 2026, and the eCarsTrade facts against our own live pages.