Atlas of Local Levies: municipal, provincial, and water board residential taxes rose in 2022, home owners face an average rise of 2.9%, tenants 1.9%

In 2022, households must pay more to their municipal, provincial, and water board authorities than in 2021. Home owners must now pay an average of €1,486 to the municipality, which is 2.9% more than last year. Tenants are paying an average of €893 in 2022, 1.9% more than last year. This has been revealed in the Atlas of Local Levies 2020 (Atlas van de Lokale Lasten), presented on the 5th of April by the Centre for Research on Local Government Economics (Centrum voor Onderzoek van de Economie van de Lagere Overheden), COELO. COELO is a University of Groningen research institute.

The Atlas, which shows the development of municipal, provincial, and water board taxes, is available online for the first time this year on the COELO website. The website also features the local levies calculator, which anybody can use to calculate the levies per municipality and compare them with those in other municipalities.

Residential taxes for home owners

The Atlas shows that the €1,486 that home owners must pay in residential taxes is split as follows: €904 goes to the municipality, €189 goes to the province, and €392 goes to the water board. The local levies for this group vary, from €1,162 in Tilburg to €2,405 in Bloemendaal.

Multi-person households that own their own home pay the lowest sewerage charges in Overbetuwe (€91) and the highest in Gouda (€500). An average household now pays €207, which is a 1.7% rise compared with last year.

Home owners are paying an average of €380 in immovable property tax (ozb), 3.6% (€13) more than last year. The highest rises are in Landsmeer (31%) and Papendrecht (27%). Home owners in Weesp, a municipality that merged with Amsterdam on 24 March, will now pay 39% less. The immovable property tax rates for business premises have risen by 2.7%, which is less than for home owners.

Residential taxes for tenants

Tenants do not have to pay immovable property tax (ozb) to the municipality or water system levies for buildings to the water board. They are also not asked to pay sewerage charges in 98 of the municipalities. In 2022, the average residential tax for tenants is €893: €424 levied by the municipality, €189 by the province, and €280 by the water board. Tenants in Nijmegen pay the least (€544) and tenants in Wassenaar pay the most (€1,226).

Tenants in West Betuwe pay the highest sewerage charges: €130 for a multi-person household.

Waste collection levy rises by 3.2%

Tenants and home owners both pay waste collection levies. Multi-person households pay an average of €317, which is 3.2% more than last year. Multi-person households in Nijmegen pay the least, at just €38. This is because Nijmegen only uses a small proportion of its revenue from waste collection levies to pay for waste collection and processing. Multi-person households in Wassenaar pay €491, the highest levy.

Provincial taxes and water rates

Provinces and water boards also raise various levies. Provinces impose a provincial surcharge on motor vehicle tax. This surcharge has risen by an average of 1%. On average, owners of petrol cars weighing 1,250 kilos (a VW Golf, for example) must now pay €189. Noord-Holland is the cheapest in this respect (€156) and Groningen the most expensive (€217).

With regard to water board levies, tenants in De Dommel in Brabant pay the least (€207), and tenants in the Delfland District Water Control Board pay the most (€368).

On average, home owners are paying 3.4% more in water board levies than in 2021. Home owners in Cranendonck pay the least, with De Dommel water board charging an average of €277, and home owners in Landsmeer in the Hollands Noorderkwartier District Water Control Board pay the most (an average of €588).

Tourist tax rises and dog licence fees drop

In 2022, tourists will pay an average of 4.3% more in tourist tax than in 2021. This year, 89% of Dutch municipalities are charging tourist tax as opposed to 86% last year. The fee for a dog licence has dropped by almost 10%. 2022 is the first year in which fewer than half of all Dutch municipalities are charging for dog licences.

More information

Corine Hoeben, tel: +31 (0)50 3633766, email: coelo@rug.nl.

The Atlas is available via the COELO website, where you can also find the local levies calculator.

C. Hoeben, L.A. Toolsema, J.G. de Natris, M.A. Allers and D.M.O. Jong, Atlas van de lokale lasten 2022. COELO, Groningen, ISBN 978-94-92218-21-6