The rules may be fixed, but the game is ours to play.
- Michel van Roon
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 12
The automotive sector must clean its own house — and put an end to VAT carousels and money laundering within the chain
Despite the European Union’s good intentions, many entrepreneurs experience the burden of strict laws and regulations designed to combat crime. In short: one small mistake in your bookkeeping can lead to a raid by the tax authorities and hefty fines. Not necessarily because you’ve done anything wrong — but because your buyer abroad, without your knowledge, has committed fraud. That’s not fair, but it does result in extreme caution and a sluggish trading spirit. We can do better!
The EU is missing out on substantial revenue.
Internal trade barriers cost every EU citizen money each year. Per capita national income and business productivity in the EU have long lagged behind that of the United States. The IMF recently analyzed the European market and concluded that internal trade barriers within the EU add a 44% markup to the cost of producing goods — and an astonishing 110% in the services sector. For comparison: that figure averages just 15% between U.S. states.
The automotive sector knows the feeling...
Anyone involved in the import or export of used vehicles will recognize the findings of the IMF report. If you want to import a used vehicle, you're faced with a tangle of administrative procedures related to the RDW and VAT. Exporting is, if anything, even more complicated. Reclaiming the BPM (registration tax) has become such a complex process that many car dealers no longer attempt it without the help of specialized export service providers. And if you want to apply the 0% VAT rate, it’s not only time-consuming, but also risky. A minor mistake in your paperwork can mean financial disaster — even bankruptcy.
Time to join forces?
Over the past few years, I’ve analyzed the export trade in depth. Entrepreneurs are willing, but feel insufficiently protected due to the unpredictability of enforcement. Their offline workflows, limited archiving systems, and lack of control mechanisms — combined with the daily pressures of running a business — make them hesitant to vouch for their own compliance. It’s difficult to change this, but certainly not impossible.
Better together
In my view, the solution doesn’t lie in tightening up each dealer’s administration one by one. That approach is far too cumbersome, costly, time-consuming, and prone to error. The real solution lies in building a truly reliable trading network. And that requires insight into the reputation and behavior of your buyers — not based on a few transactions, but on dozens or even hundreds of interactions and data points from multiple dealers and foreign buyers.
That’s why this is something we can — and must — tackle as a sector. The technology needed to streamline processes, automate controls, and connect data simply isn’t feasible for individual companies. But together, we can. At Novatrade, you pay for compliance as a service — based on usage per VIN transaction, and per Novatrade ID for each new buyer.
United in purpose, driven by trust.
Together, we’re building a trusted trading network. We do everything we can to identify and report suspicious activity early — and share that with our trading partners. And if, despite all precautions, something does go wrong, our partners have access to the collective data of the community. In that sense, you’re never alone. If fellow traders also concluded — based on their own transactions — that the counterparty appeared to act in good faith, you stand stronger in your defense. You can more credibly argue that you didn’t ‘know or could have known’ that the buyer was acting in bad faith.
Ready to join us?
Our mission is to help build transparency and trust in our sector. We can be the first to take control of the game. Let’s respect the rules — and find a way to make sure they no longer work against us.
