Environmental Taxes Continue to Rise – Dutch Households Bear the Brunt #
Dutch households collectively paid 17 billion euros in environmental taxes last year, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Despite temporary reductions in energy taxes and excise duties, this is nearly 12% more than the previous year.
12% Higher Costs #
Increased electricity consumption and higher gas prices drove up costs for Dutch households, CBS reports. In 2024, households paid a total of 17 billion euros in excise duties, vehicle tax, energy tax, and other environmental levies, compared to 15.24 billion euros in 2023.
This means the cost of environmental levies for households rose by 12% in one year. In 2022, households paid even less: only 12.88 billion euros.
However, before 2021, households also paid about 17 billion euros. In recent years, households paid less due to reductions in energy tax and excise duty discounts on gasoline and diesel. Despite these temporary discounts, costs have now risen back to the previous high level.
Biggest Cost Items for Households #
The largest cost items were energy taxes and vehicle tax. Households paid 5.3 billion euros for these last year, despite the discount. Excise duties on fuel also cost motorists a hefty 4 billion euros.
Additionally, taxes on polluting activities, such as sewage and water pollution charges, rose by 13%. This cost households about five billion euros in 2024. The remainder of the total came from various other environmental taxes.
The high costs paint a bleak picture for the future when the discounts on energy tax and excise duties expire. Without these discounts, households would have paid 4.2 billion euros more in 2024, totaling 21.2 billion euros. That is almost a quarter more than the highest level in the record year 2019.
Businesses #
Businesses also saw their costs rise. In 2024, companies collectively paid about 13.75 billion euros in environmental taxes—the highest amount ever and 8% more than in 2023. However, costs for households rose faster, at 12%.
One reason for the rising costs for businesses is emission rights. In 2011, companies spent only 54 million euros on these, but by 2024, that had risen to 1.7 billion euros.