Increase in municipal taxes this year; Property owners hit hardest

Municipalities expect to receive 2 percent more from levies on households and companies this year. The property tax is the largest source of income for municipalities, and it also increased more than average in the past ten years, reported Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

Owners of a house, business premises, or other immovable property must pay property tax to the municipality annually. The amount of the tax is determined based on the property value, which in turn moves with house prices with a one-year delay. Because house prices have been rising for years, so have the property values, and with it, the level of the property tax.

Researchers at CBS expect municipalities to collect 4.8 billion euros this year in property tax. That is 4.4 percent more than budgeted for 2021. The increase is also slightly higher than the average annual increase in property tax of 4 percent over the past ten years. The increase is less than the 5.8 percent recorded in 2021, however.

The property tax, the waste levy, and the sewage levy are the taxes that generate the most income for municipalities, namely three-quarters of the total amount of 11.5 billion euros. Of these, property tax is by far the main source of income. The amounts collected for waste and sewage handling will increase by 4 and 2.9 percent, respectively.

Municipalities collected much less tourist tax last year because the coronavirus restrictions resulted in much fewer tourists. This year, municipalities expect to collect 377 million euros from tourists, 33 million euros more than in 2021. Last year, income from tourist tax fell by 68 million euros.

Amsterdam expects to raise 135 million euros in tourist tax this year, two-thirds more than stated in the revised budget for 2021.