Tax on second homes has been raised in many coastal municipalities

Strongest riser is Nieuwpoort. Just like in 4 other seaside resorts, you now pay more than 1,000 euros there.

The vzw Tweres, an interest group, reacts dissatisfied. Jos Dumortier, vzw Tweres: “Second residents on the coast are regarded a bit like dairy cows. Everyone thinks that second homes are rich people by definition. What we mainly contest is that there is a very large discrepancy between the taxes that our own residents pay compared to the very large amounts that the second residents pay.”

Only Zeebrugge and Blankenberge do not increase the second residence tax. The seaside cities that increase the most are: Nieuwpoort, Ostend, De Panne and De Haan. Geert Vanden Broucke, mayor of Nieuwpoort: “We had to catch up. Because the cost price of everything that has to do with prevention, police, fire brigade, you name it, has also risen for the city. It is also true that those apartments increase in value every year. Also because of our policy that ensures that Nieuwpoort is ‘the place to be’.”

Not even surcharges

Second homes are currently the most expensive in Koksijde, followed by Ostend and Nieuwpoort. According to Tweres, it is no coincidence that the large increases are now happening. “The municipal elections are approaching and people want to win over their own residents. The municipal coffers are filled by the second residents who do not have the right to vote there anyway.”

In Koksijde, Knokke-Heist and De Panne, their own residents do not even pay additional personal income tax. Based on the principle of equality, second residents have already taken legal action in the past. Tweres also now assists with almost 1000 procedures against those coastal municipalities.