What is the WOZ-value and what is its influence on your taxes?
When you own real estate in The Netherlands, you are required by law to pay a property tax, this tax is called the ‘OZB’ (onroerendezaakbelasting). The amount that you are required to pay in OZB is linked to your property’s ‘WOZ-value’ (waarde onroerende zaken). The WOZ-value reflects the fair market value of your property at a set point in time. For example, your property’s WOZ-value for 2022 is based on its fair market value on the date of 01-01-2021. A higher WOZ-value directly causes a higher OZB tax, so it’s often advantageous for real estate owners to try to keep their WOZ-value as low as possible.
The WOZ-value is annually determined by your municipality’s tax assessors, you should receive a notice of this along with the amount of OZB to be paid during the first eight weeks of the year. This notice is called an ‘aanslagbiljet’ or ‘beschikking’). In order to lower your WOZ-value to get lower property taxes), you can file an appeal within six weeks of the date on your ‘aanslagbiljet’. The municipality then has until the end of the year to either grant or deny the appeal. Depending on the situation, we can take your case to court if the appeal is denied.
Why should I have WOZ-Consultants appeal my WOZ-value?
As intimately familiar as one might be with their property, most people lack the specific legal and real estate knowledge to adequately navigate the appeal process. On the other hand, the municipality employs tax assessors and other real estate specialists to present their case. This can make it feel like the deck is stacked against the property-owner.
At WOZ-Consultants, we have various realtors, lawyers and paralegals that are specialized in the WOZ and other property tax-related laws. We can completely take over the appeal process for you and protect your interests against the municipality. When a citizen employs specialists such as us and the appeal is granted, the law dictates that we receive payment from the municipality in the form of the so-called ‘proceskostenvergoeding’. This is to ensure that citizens can have proper legal representation in matters like these. Because of this, we can work for you on a no-cure-no-pay-basis. Having us handle the appeal process is completely risk-free!
Intake and the appeal process
Follow the steps as outlined below to have your WOZ-value assessed by our specialist WOZ- appraisers. If you have any questions or require more assistance, please give us a call at 0900-8068 and we will help you submit your intake!
Step 1: Click the bright green button on the upper-right corner of our website that says ‘Start gratis WOZ-bezwaar’. This will take you to our intake page.
Step 2: At the first question, you can select one of four types of applications depending on your needs.
- Select the first option, ‘Woning’, if you wish to have a single private residential property’s WOZ-value checked.
- Select the second option, ‘Bedrijfspand’, if your query pertains to the WOZ-value of a place of business (i.e. a store, an office etc.).
- Select the third option, ‘Erfbelasting’, if you have received the WOZ-aanslag from a property recently obtained in an inheritance.
- Select the fourth and final option ‘Meerdere objecten’ if you have two or more properties that you wish to have evaluated.
Step 3: Select either ‘Eigenaar’ if you own the property or select ‘Huurder’ if you are renting the property.
Step 4: Select the correct type of property. If you are unsure of the type, just enter any one of them.
Step 5: Check ‘Lagere waarde’ if you are looking to lower your WOZ-value. Select ‘Hogere waarde’ if you want a higher WOZ-value.
Step 6: Fill out the address of your property.
Step 7: Enter your WOZ-value under ‘Wat is de huidige WOZ-waarde?’.
Step 8: Choose the correct tax year. Then, at ‘Heb je je aanslagbiljet bij de hand?’, select either ‘Ja’ (if you have your ‘aanslagbiljet’ with you currently) or ‘Nee’ (if you don’t currently have your ‘aanslagbiljet’). If you check ‘Ja’, please fill out the details of your ‘aanslagbiljet’.
Step 9: Enter the name that the ‘aanslagbiljet’ is addressed to at ‘Naam belastingplichtige’.
Step 10: Check the boxes that apply to the situation at your property:
- ‘Slecht onderhoud’ – poorly maintained
- ‘Gedateerde afwerking’ – the property is dated
- ‘Bouwkundige gebreken’ – property has construction errors
- ‘Minder goede ligging’ – the property is poorly situated
- ‘Objectkenmerken gemeente kloppen niet’ – the data that the municipality has about the property is incorrect
- ‘Mijn woning is gelegen op erfpacht’ – there’s a ground lease
Step 11: Under ‘Aanvullende motvatie’, please type all extra information that you think we should consider when we review your intake.
Step 12: At ‘Wat is volgens jou de WOZ-waarde’, please enter what you think would be an appropriate WOZ-value for your property. If you don’t know, please enter ‘0’.
Step 13: Fill out your contact information. After this, please check the two boxes below to agree to our privacy terms and to request us to review your application.
Step 14: Click the green button that says ‘Bezwaar maken’ to submit your intake. Well done!
After submitting your intake, one of our specialists will review it to see if the WOZ-value can be appealed. You will receive an email with the outcome at the email address you entered at the intake.
If the specialist wishes to go ahead with the appeal process, the email will contain the necessary information to proceed. If you have any questions at this point, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Once we have received all of the necessary information and paperwork as outlined in the email, we will submit a ‘pro-forma’ appeal. In this general appeal, we dispute the WOZ-value request additional time to prepare our case. Later in the year, one of our appraisers will review your case once more and may send additional information to the municipality. A hearing may also take place. The municipality then has until the end of the tax year (in rare cases this may be extended by six weeks) to make a judgement. Once we receive a judgement, we will review it and determine whether or not we want to take the case to court.
If you have any questions, please call us at 0900-8068 or email us at info@wozconsultants.nl
No information on this page is legally binding. For our terms and conditions, please refer to the (Dutch) documents on our website.
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