Paying tourist tax

Are you are staying overnight in a hotel, or going by boat to an island off the coast of the Netherlands? These are situations where you may have to pay tourist tax (toeristenbelasting). This tax is included in the price of your hotel room, or in the price of your ticket for the boat ride.

The decision whether or not to charge tourist tax is taken on a municipal level. Municipalities impose this tax on hotel owners, for example. Those owners then include the tax in the price of the hotel rooms.

Tourist tax is a financial contribution towards paying for municipal services because tourists also benefit from them, such as maintenance of roads, parks, squares and beaches.

The amount of tourist tax is different in each municipality. To find out how much tourist tax is payable is in a municipality, please contact that municipality.