This year, the treasury is missing out on approximately 107 million euros due to companies paying significantly less tax on their drinking water consumption compared to households. Despite consuming millions of cubic meters of drinking water, companies like Heineken and DSM pay a maximum of 126 euros in tax per year. A large portion of the Parliament believes this needs to change. RTL Nieuws reports on this. The Lower House is considering adjusting the regulations.
Currently, the maximum amount anyone, household or major consumer, will spend on the tap water tax, abbreviated as Bol, this year is 126 euros. For every cubic meter of water, which is 1000 liters, you pay 42 cents to your water company this year, excluding VAT. This applies up to a limit of 300 cubic meters of water.
Out of the total water tax revenue of 309 million euros, 287 million is coughed up by households, assuming that almost no one exceeds the limit of 300,000 liters.
This means that the business sector pays only 22 million euros in tax for 316 million cubic meters of water. This amounts to just over 7 percent of the total revenue.
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