Amsterdam tourist tax 2026: how the 12.5% city tax works

In Dutch the city tax is called toeristenbelasting, and the city council sets it. Under the Verordening Toeristenbelasting 2024, which has applied since 1 January 2024 and is still in force in 2026, it is 12.5% of the amount charged for the stay that is subject to VAT, without counting the tax itself.

Hotel prices in the Netherlands are shown with VAT, so the tax works out at about 10.3% of the price on the booking. For everything else about a visit, the Amsterdam tourist office guide is the place to start.

The accommodation charges the tax on each night and pays it to the city. These are the rules of the ordinance.

VAT on accommodation in the Netherlands rose from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026, while breakfast charged separately stays at 9%, as the Dutch tax office explains in its note on 21% VAT on accommodation from 2026. Together, the VAT and the tourist tax add 33.5% to the price before VAT. While choosing where to stay, the guide to things to do in Amsterdam shows which sights sit close together, from the Rijksmuseum to Dam Square.

The total depends on the price of the room and the number of nights. These stays show the sums, with every price including 21% VAT, as hotels show it.

Breakfast is outside the tax, so the room in the last row pays the same as a €250 room without breakfast. A longer stay pays for every night, because the tax has no limit on nights.

A holiday let pays the same 12.5% as a hotel, whether it is booked directly or through Airbnb, Booking.com or another platform. Cleaning fees count as part of the price it applies to, so a cleaning charge on the booking raises the tax too.

The host owes the tax to the city and may pass it on to the guest, so it is worth checking whether the total already includes it.

The tax applies to every paid overnight stay, for a holiday or for work. The ordinance leaves out only these guests:

• people registered as living in Amsterdam in the Dutch population register
• people staying in a care institution
• people in shelters for refugees or for homeless people

There is no exemption for children. The tax is a share of the room price rather than a charge per guest, so a child adds to it only when the extra guest makes the room cost more.

Each Dutch municipality sets its own tourist tax, so what counts is where the accommodation stands, not the name of the hotel. Schiphol airport and its hotels are in Haarlemmermeer, and Zaandam, Amstelveen and Haarlem are separate municipalities as well.

The rates come from the Haarlemmermeer tourist tax ordinance, the Zaanstad tourist tax ordinance, the Amstelveen tourist tax ordinance and the Haarlem tourist tax ordinance. Guests under 16 pay half in Zaanstad, and children aged 12 or under pay half in Haarlem. For a night outside the city, the guide to things to do in Haarlem covers its old town.

Cruise passengers in transit pay a day tourist tax of €15 per passenger per day in 2026, under the day tourist tax ordinance for cruise passengers. It applies when a ship calls at Amsterdam on a cruise that starts and ends elsewhere, and the cruise company owes it. Passengers on a cruise that starts or ends in Amsterdam do not pay it, and nor do children under 3.

Canal boat trips carry a separate charge, the levy on canal boat trips. It is €2.70 per passenger on a boat with an engine and €0.80 on a boat without one or moored in place. The boat operator pays it and may include it in the ticket price.

Under the 2020 to 2023 ordinance, hotels charged 7% of the room price plus €3 per guest per night, campsites 7% plus €1 and other places to stay 10%. Since 1 January 2024 the rate has been 12.5% for every type of stay.

The Amsterdam coalition agreement 2026-2030 plans to raise the rate to 16% in 2027 and then by one point a year until it reaches 20%. The city's 2027 budget, presented on 17 September 2026, keeps the same plan. On 4 November 2026 the council had not yet passed the 2027 rate, so 12.5% is the rate in force.

Every Dutch municipality decides whether to charge a tourist tax and how much. Some take a share of the room price, as Amsterdam does, and others charge a fixed amount per guest per night.

The figures come from the Utrecht tourist tax ordinance, the The Hague tourist tax ordinance and the Maastricht tourist tax ordinance. For trips beyond Amsterdam, the guides to things to do in Utrecht and things to do in The Hague cover both cities.