Municipal or provincial administrative charges
Do you have to purchase a service or product, such as a permit, from a municipal or a provincial authority in the Netherlands? If so, you will usually have to pay administrative charges (leges). Find out here what these charges are for, why you need to pay them, and how much you'll have to pay.
What do you pay administrative charges for?
You must pay administrative charges to the province or municipality if you apply for, for example:
- a permit, for example an environment and planning permit (building charges), a market permit, or a terrace permit
- an exemption or dispensation
- documents (such as passports and extracts)
You can check for which applications you have to pay with your municipal or provincial authority (in Dutch). You can find this information in the charges on Overheid.nl by typing your postal code in the Location search box (in Dutch).
Why do you have to pay administrative charges?
The administrative charges cover the administrative costs your municipal of provincial authority makes to process your application.
Municipal and provincial authorities must publish a municipal or provincial administrative charges by-law (legesverordening) in which they explain:
- the applications for which you must pay administrative charges
- how much you must pay for these applications
- the legal basis for the charges
How much administrative charges do you have to pay?
The amount of the charges depends on the municipality or province. The amount may not be higher than the total costs incurred by the municipality or province.
You can check the local rates in the charges by-laws on the website of your municipal or provincial authority (in Dutch). You can find these charges by-laws if you type your postal code in the Location search box on Overheid.nl (in Dutch).
Objecting to administrative charges
If you disagree with the amount of the administrative charges, you can object. To do so, you must submit a written objection to your municipal or provincial authority.