Amsterdam to raise tourist tax to 20% by 2031

The city of Amsterdam could soon have one of the highest tourist tax rates in the world. The municipality wants to raise the tourist tax from the current 12,5 percent to 20 percent in 2031.

Amsterdam to raise tourist tax to combat overtourism

In an effort to reduce the number of tourists in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam’s new coalition, PRO (formerly GroenLinks-PvdA) and D66, has revealed plans to gradually increase the tourist tax from 12,5 percent to 20 percent in 2031, reports NOS.

The new tourist tax rate would be added on top of the higher VAT on accommodation that the national government introduced earlier this year. As of 2026, tourists in the Netherlands pay 21 percent VAT for hotel stays, increased from 9 percent. This means that visitors to Amsterdam will pay a total of 41 percent in VAT for accommodation by 2031, almost doubling from the 21,5 percent of last year. 

According to the Royal Dutch Hospitality Association (KHN), Amsterdam currently has the highest tourist tax in Europe. After the tax hike, it will be one of the highest in the world, with only the country of Bhutan having higher. 

Hotel owners are concerned about the higher tax rate on accommodation, with some already seeing a decline in visitors since an earlier increase. "Our occupancy rate is still acceptable, but due to the combination of the increased tourist tax and the rise in VAT, we are now seeing a decline of approximately 10 percent." There are worries that this will cause tourists to stay in other nearby municipalities with lower tourist taxes, such as Amstelveen or Zaanstad. 

Overnight stays in Amsterdam rise despite limit

In 2025, there were 23,7 million overnight stays in Amsterdam, 800.000 more than the year before. This growth occurred despite the limit the municipality set for itself of 20 million overnight stays per year.

However, the municipality does not see the situation as all bad, as the “growth is slowing down”. Tourism is expected to continue growing until 2028, but at a slower rate than the boom between 2015 and 2019, reports NH Nieuws. 

Over the past few years, the Dutch capital has introduced several Stay Away campaigns, cut river cruises, banned the construction of new hotels and implemented additional measures in an attempt to curb mass tourism.