At the moment in the Netherlands there is a tax on the purchase of housing, which is 2% of its value (overdrachtsbelasting). It must be paid by the buyer, that is, the new owner of the apartment or house.
According to government sources, from January 1, those who buy their first, only, housing, will no longer need to pay purchase tax. For example, a young man who buys a house for 200 euros after January 000st will be able to save 1 euros.
Moreover, as the officials emphasize, this measure applies only to buyers who are going to live in their home. This does not apply to people buying a second home or multi-property owners who rent out their homes. Another limitation is age. Only people between the ages of 18 and 35 can count on zeroing the tax.
However, questions remain pending the release of the bill. In particular, it is not completely clear who can claim the abolition of the tax. For example, in a young couple, one partner has already bought a house. Can a second person buy a home tax-free?
The introduction of this measure, according to members of the Cabinet of Ministers, should to some extent compensate for the rise in prices in the housing market that has occurred in recent years, as well as reduce the investment attractiveness of residential real estate.
This is expected to be announced during the traditional Prince's Day (Prinsjesdag) on 15 September. On this day, the King of the Netherlands traditionally reads out a list of legislative updates that are planned to be adopted next year. Many of them still have to go through the approval procedure in parliament, but, as practice shows, almost 90% of the announced changes come into force.
Publication Date: 03.09.2020
