Progress: Figured out where to find LPG & how to use the pump, and filled up the tank. Moved it beside the house. Got Daan in to look at it. Figured out the issue with the heating. Decided not to have Daan re-jig the desk.

Thinking: The van still doesn't have any real draw & doesn't feel "home-y" enough for me to want to spend any time in it. It would be great to have it feel like that for any of: Doing Deep Work, Doing Calls, Hanging in the evening. The lowest hanging fruit here is to fix the desk. Initially thought the desk was this, but it'll cost over a grand and still be hitting my knees. So know I'm thinking let's make it cosy and/or sufficient for doing work from the couch.

Actions

• ✓ Ask Daan if it's possible to modify the desk

Thinking: Now that I'm doing more work on it, I wanted to revisit the idea of keeping the van & how that would work. The conclusion is that there's a massive amount of work & cost involved. In order to legally drive it here, I'd have to pay a few grand to import it, pay a few grand in tax per year, and pay a few grand to get my C1 license here. It would also then become very difficult to sell (being both overweight and a right-hand drive), so after I'd have to re-import it back to Ireland and likely pay VRT again before selling it. So my options are:

• Cut losses, bring it back to Dublin & sell it

• Double down - go through the admin in the Netherlands

There's still a big part of me that's excited about the idea of actually having it, in a state that I'm excited to use it, and where I know it's fully legal to drive around and I'm not apprehensive about that. In particular using it to work from, do calls during the day etc. That may also just be subconscious loss aversion.

What I'll do

• Do a little more work on it over the christmas - couch back, fix heating, make it cosy etc. I'll need this to sell it anyway.

• Keep it near the house and try to start using it for work, calls etc.

• Plan to drive it back to Ireland late January, do CVRT & make a call

The Van State of Play Document

Facts

• My van is about 4100 kg.

• I have a Philippine Driving License.

• The Philippines has slightly different vehicle weight rules than Europe for handling driver's licenses.

Risks

• In a worst case scenario, if I get pulled over in the Netherlands, there are 3 things they won't like:

  • I'm officially a Dutch Resident but I'm driving a vehicle with foreign plates. Technically once you become a Dutch resident you're not allowed drive a foreign vehicle. This is a tax violation because you should be paying tax on this vehicle.

  • I've officially lived here for over 185 days and I'm still driving on a foreign license (technically you need to convert to a Dutch license asap).

  • I'm driving a vehicle that would be considered "C Category" in Europe, but my license is technically "B Category" license. (This is murkier because of the license thing).

Penalties

• For driving a vehicle without a Dutch license plate...

  • First offence: Warning + requirement to import or remove vehicle

  • Subsequent offence: BPM + MRB back-taxes (up to 5 years) + penalty up to 100% of taxes owed

  • Real case examples show total assessments of €8,000–€13,000+ including penalties

• For driving on a foreign license...

  • €430 fine (Article 107 WVW – "wrong category/invalid")

• For "driving a category C vehicle on a category B license" (murky)...

  • Penalty: €430 fine (same Article 107 – "verkeerde categorie")

  • Insurance risk: Insurer may refuse coverage or pursue recovery if accident occurs

Costs & Process

• Area	Cost	Effort
  Getting a C1 License	€1,500–€2,500	2–4 months (theory + practical exams)
  Getting Dutch License Plate	€2,100–€3,400 (BPM €1,200–€2,000 + fees €200–€500 + first year MRB €700–€900)	RDW inspection, BPM declaration, potential taxatie report
  Ongoing MRB (Road Tax)	€700–€900/year (2025) → €1,400–€1,800/year (2026+)	Annual, automatic – camper half-tariff from 2026

Takeaways & Plan

• Voluntary compliance now costs ~€4,000–€6,000 total (licence + import)

• Getting caught after 2–3 years could cost €6,000–€12,000 (taxes + penalties)

• Resale problem: RHD + Dutch plates + 4,100 kg = 20–30% value loss (€6,000–€9,000 on €30k van)

• Three realistic options:

  • Go Dutch: High upfront cost, ongoing MRB, painful resale

  • Keep Irish, store in Ireland: No cost, but can't use van in NL

  • Sell in Ireland

Email from Bank Of Ireland to update my KYC info. Pretty extreme wording & requires documents I don't have to hand. And again, they will close my account if I don't provide them. No email address to respond to, no way to get in touch with anyone. Just a docusign document with a file upload.