Local taxes

What it means

Local taxes are levied by the municipality: property tax, dog tax, accommodation tax, vending machine tax, public space charges and the municipal waste fee.

Each municipality sets rates and reliefs in its own general binding regulation. The same office in the next town can face a different bill although the statute is identical.

Motor vehicle tax used to be collected as a local tax, but today it is a state tax administered by the tax office, not the municipality. A company that owns property and also uses vehicles for business therefore deals with two different tax administrators, under two regimes and with different deadlines.

How it works in practice

The return is due by 31 January and only when something changed: a purchase, a sale, occupancy approval, a change of use. With no change the municipality assesses the tax from the last known position.

For companies the waste fee follows volume and collection frequency. It is forgotten when premises change, and the municipality assesses it retrospectively for the whole period.

A company with premises in several municipalities files the property tax return with each municipality separately, and each sends its own assessment with its own due dates. When we take over a client, we therefore draw up a list of properties by municipality from the land register, so that no obligation stays off the records.

What to watch out for

Payment is usually split into instalments set by the municipality’s decision, not by the return. Companies pay everything at once, or forget the second instalment and earn pointless interest.

Anyone letting a flat short term through booking platforms is usually liable for the accommodation tax and must collect it from guests and pay it to the municipality under its ordinance. This duty is often overlooked because attention goes to rental income and income tax, and the municipality then collects it retroactively along with a penalty.