The Dutch municipalities budget 600 million euros in revenue from the tourist tax in 2025. This is 61 million (+11,3%) euros more than in 2024. Of this increase, €23 million can be attributed to Amsterdam. This is evident from figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) on the income of municipalities in 2025. The item 'parking fees', also strongly focused on the visitor economy, is increased by €154 million (+10%) to 1,5 billion.
Amsterdam collects the most tourist tax
It is not surprising that the touristically attractive Amsterdam tops the list with the most income from tourist tax. For 2025, 265,7 million is expected from this source of income. This growth of 8% compared to 2024 is supported by, among other things, an increase in the number of overnight stays and an increase in room prices. Amsterdam will use a rate of 2024% of the overnight price in both 2025 and 12,5. In addition, higher revenues from tourist tax for passengers of cruise ships and tour boats are expected. In 2024, the rate has been increased from €8 to €14 per passenger per day
In addition, day recreation is also subject to municipal taxes (Entertainment Tax), which will bring in another €15,1 million in 2025. Amsterdam water sports are also being targeted starting in 2025 through the introduction of 'vignettes'. Parking fees, largely also paid by visitors to the city, will account for €363,9 million in revenue for the municipality in 2025.
While major cities stand out in the CBS overview because they levy high levels of tourist tax in absolute terms, we see that smaller tourist municipalities also often realize a very large portion of their budget coverage from revenue generated by visitors (tourists and day guests) to the municipality. If we look at the budget of the Zeeland municipality of Veere , for example, we see that well over half of all local levies are raised by visitors (tourist tax €10,6 million, commuter tax €2 million & parking fees €7,3 million – this municipality has many car parks along the coast). See also the image on the right.
Many other municipal taxes are also increasing
Municipalities expect to receive 14,4 billion euros from levies this year. That is 8,0 percent more than budgeted for 2024. This increase is slightly smaller than last year, when budgeted levy revenues were 8,5 percent higher than in 2023.
The ozb, the waste disposal tax, the sewage tax and the parking fees are the four levies that yield the most in an average municipality. These four levies will account for 2025 percent of the budgeted tax revenues in 85. The income from the ozb and the parking fees belong to the general resources and can be spent freely, while the income from the waste disposal tax and the sewage tax may not exceed the costs of waste processing and the sewage system.
Increase in parking fee revenues
For 2025, municipalities budget almost 1,5 billion euros in revenue from parking charges. That is 11,6 percent more than a year earlier. The increase of 154 million euros can largely be attributed to Amsterdam (+42 million), The Hague (+22 million), Rotterdam (+17 million), Utrecht (+16 million), Arnhem (+7 million) and Breda (+7 million). In these cities, the increase is due to a combination of an increase in rates and an expansion of the area in which motorists have to pay to park.
Source and more information: www.cbs.nl