Local Property Taxes in the Netherlands

Local taxation in the Netherlands is a field in which there is little expertise. Until 1865, municipalities were completely financed by their own resources. Nowadays municipalities are largely (about 70 percent) dependent on transfers from the national government. Nevertheless, from a legal–scientific perspective, local taxation is a very interesting research field and, despite its limited size, very important to municipal tax departments and tax professionals. For local tax revenue, the property tax is by far the most important local tax in the Netherlands. This article presents a brief overview of the valuation of real estate and property tax and a comparison of the total local revenue including tax revenue in the Netherlands with that in other European countries. This article is adapted from a presentation by the author at the 10th Mass Appraisal Valuation Symposium, sponsored by the International Property Tax Institute June 16–17, 2015, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.