An average increase in property tax (onroerendezaakbelasting - OZB) of 9,1% will affect the 39 largest municipalities in the Netherlands. To a large extent, it will be provided by the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht: in these municipalities the tax rate will increase by more than 20%. If these cities are removed from the calculations, the average OZB growth is 4,9%.
On average, the cost of utility taxes related to the maintenance of housing and infrastructure will increase by 6% for homeowners and 3,2% for tenants. A detailed article about OZB and other local taxes in the Netherlands can be found on our website.
The OZB is set by municipalities and is one of the main sources of revenue for local budgets. Municipalities explain the tax increase by the need to cover the costs of local budgets. Amsterdam and The Hague, in particular, complain that a new way of distributing the funds allocated by the government of the country for the municipal fund will cost these cities millions. Utrecht claims that its OZB rates have lagged behind market rates for several years now. Now they want to close this gap.
When taxing OZB, it is not the real value of housing that is used, but the so-called cost in ounces (WOZ-waarde) - an indicator of determining the profit that the owner should have received. In the understanding familiar to most readers, WOZ-waarde is the cadastral value of a property. The WOZ-waarde is different in different municipalities. A valid WOZ-waarde calculator can be found at this link.
Most large municipalities want to increase this figure by 18,5% this year. Perhaps these decisions will be reviewed after the objections of the taxpayers, if any.
The process of taxation in the Netherlands is not easy, without special training it is very difficult to pay taxes correctly. Get written or oral advice from Nalog.nl specialists! Check our regularly YouTube channel - there is a lot of fresh and useful information.
Publication Date: 20.01.2023
