This is the twin blog post to the one where we discussed monetary taxes like income and inheritance tax – including potential tax breaks for expats. Do you also need help filing the annual Dutch tax return? Let our income tax blog post respond to all your tax-related concerns!
Here, we take you through the most common municipal taxes, and how to pay them. Let’s get started!
Sewage Tax (Rioolheffing)
A sewage tax is applied to residents for maintaining the municipality’s sewer system. The municipality you’re registered in will send you a letter at your registered address, informing you when it is time to pay the tax with detailed instructions on how to pay it. You usually receive this letter in the first half of February.
The amount of tax you will need to pay depends on several factors. You can contact your municipality to know the full amount. If you’re unable to pay the tax, you can apply for a remission (see ‘remission for the waste collection tax’ below).
Waste Collection Tax (Afvalstoffenheffing)
Waste collection fees are the cost of collecting and processing domestic refuse. Essentially, you’re paying for the kind workers to come and pick up your street waste every week and keep our residential areas clean! Similarly to the sewage tax, when the time for paying the tax comes, you will receive a letter from the municipality.
Remission for the Waste Collection Tax
If your employment income is too low, you might be able to get a waiver for the garbage tax. You can easily request this tax refund via the website for the municipality of Rotterdam.
Water Board Tax (Waterschapsbelasting)
A Water Board Tax is used to maintain clean drinking and bathing water for your households. The tax itself is issued by the water board authority of your region – so not your municipality. For Rotterdam, it falls under the authority of the Holland Delta Water Board (SVHW). Once a year, the SVHW will send you a letter with the tax amount. If you are registered with multiple people at the same address, you will all have to contribute to the tax.
Want to know how much you’ll have to pay? Our post about water service in Rotterdam answers all your water-related questions.
Remission for the Water Board Tax
If you have a low income, you also might be able to get a waiver for the water tax. Request the remission for the municipality of Rotterdam below:
Parking Tax (Parkeerbelasting)
Paying parking tax is only required when you’ve failed to pay for your parking spot. The fine you will receive includes the parking tax. You will receive a notice if this is the case with the amount of the penalty. If you wish to challenge it, you’ll need to contact the municipality that issued the ticket.
Paid parking contributes to the overall parking tax in the Netherlands. Check your municipality website to find out where the no-pay parking zones are in your area.
Dog Tax (Hondenbelasting)
If you recently got a new furry friend – congratulations! You must now report this to your municipality. Municipalities do annual checks on possession of dogs, so if you don’t report this, you will be fined. You can do this on your official municipality’s website.
The dog tax amount varies per municipality. In Tilburg, for instance, it costs around 128,76 euros per year whereas in Haarlem it is around 104,28 euros. And in some places, you don’t have to pay any dog tax. About 222 municipalities are free from dog taxes. We advise you to check your municipality’s official website to find out if a dog tax is applicable for you.
Tourist Tax (Touristenbelasting)
The situations where you will need to pay tourist tax are if you’re staying overnight in a Dutch hotel or hospitality property, and/or are attending a major tourist attraction. Usually, the tourist tax is included in the price of the attraction or overnight stays. But some places providing overnight stays may require you to pay the tourist tax upfront – excluding the price you already paid for staying there. So make sure you check with the property beforehand!
Additional Dutch Taxes
Motor Vehicle Tax (Motorrijtuigenbelasting)
When you have a car or motorcycle registered in your name in the Netherlands, you are already declaring your tax for this vehicle – so you don’t need to submit a separate form for this. Instead, like the municipal taxes, the Belastingdienst will send you a letter with the amount of tax you’ll need to pay. This amount depends on the type of vehicle and its fuel.
Exemption with a Foreign License Plate
The general rule of thumb is that even if you have a foreign license plate that you imported to the Netherlands, you still have to pay tax. However, if your car is registered by a non-Dutch employer, or you don’t drive the car in the Netherlands permanently, you may be exempt from paying this. On the Dutch government website, you can find an overview of the full exemption conditions for the foreign license plate.
Gambling Tax (Kansspelbelasting)
Did you know that in the Netherlands any money you win from gambling or the lottery is considered a taxable income?
While winning prizes worth more than 449 euros in any offline game of chance, a gambling tax of 30,5% (in 2024) is applied.
Anything under 449 euros? Congratulations, that’s all yours!
There are some differences in which types of games were played and if you earned money with a game abroad or in The Netherlands. The most updated exemptions can be checked on the Dutch government website.
And: may the odds be ever in your favour!
Pay Taxes now, Live Worry-Free!
The municipal taxes aren’t that difficult, right? All you truly need to keep on eye on are the mandatory ones: sewage, waste collection, and water board tax. Without these, the Netherlands won’t be able to maintain public sanitation and hygiene very well. Nobody wants a dirty and unhealthy living space and our taxes contribute to fighting this!
