If you have a company in the Netherlands, you must pay energy tax (energiebelasting) if your business consumes energy. The amount of energy tax owed depends on the quantity of energy used. You can find the rates on the website of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst, in Dutch). Energy tax is collected by the supplier, who pays it to the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.
Refund scheme
In some cases you are eligible for a refund of energy tax (in Dutch). Does your business consume more than 10 million kWh and you conclude a long-term agreement on energy efficiency with the government? In that case you qualify for a refund of part of the energy tax (in Dutch). You will need a progress statement (voortgangsverklaring) for this. You can apply for this statement to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
Sustainable energy surcharge
Apart from energy tax, you pay a levy on the supply of energy to stimulate sustainable energy. This is called the sustainable energy surcharge (Opslag Duurzame Energie, ODE). You pay this surcharge per consumed kWh electricity or m3 gas. The energy supplier collects the levy via your annual energy bill and pays this to the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. If you receive an energy tax refund (in Dutch), you will also be refunded part of the sustainable energy surcharge.
You do not have to pay the energy tax surcharge if you consume:
- electricity you generate from renewable sources
- electricity you generate with a backup installation in case of disruptions in the distribution network
- landfill gas, sewage gas or biogas you produce yourself
- electricity you generate with a cogeneration plant
Avoid double taxation on energy storage
Do you store energy to sell it at a later time? You may have to pay tax on it twice: once for storage and once for usage. You can avoid double taxation if:
- the party operating an energy storage facility has a large-scale consumption connection
- the party operating an energy storage facility declares to the electricity supplier that it is exempted from the levy