Court cuts Amsterdam tour boat operator's tax to €1.50

A court has reversed Amsterdam's rise in its entertainment levy (vermakelijkhedenretributie) for tour boats. Tour operator Stromma will pay €1.50 per passenger again instead of €2.70, and gets back what it overpaid.

The reversal is backdated to the third quarter of 2024. Operators largely pass the tax on to passengers.

Amsterdam introduced the tax in January 2020 at €1.50 per passenger. In 2024 the municipal executive wanted €2.00, and the city council added 50 cents. The rate later rose to €2.60 and is €2.70 this year.

Stromma objected after paying the tax for 2024 and 2025. It argued the rise breached principles of good governance: the city had not explained its purpose and had not weighed operators' interests.

The municipality defended the rise as a "fairer share from visitors to the city". Its tax official told the court that the growing number of visitors makes it much more costly to maintain facilities that operators benefit from. The court said the city had not shown how much extra money it needs for this.

The court said the tax must be linked to facilities the municipality paid for, wholly or partly, for the operators concerned. The council's extra 50 cents was meant to fund free public transport for children, a teacher grant, greening of public space and education support. The court said the operators have "no benefit whatsoever" from these, as they are entirely separate from the shipping sector. It also said the city's reference to structural deficits in its "sailing" programme was not enough.

The court left open what the ruling means for other tour boat operators and organisers of parties on boats in Amsterdam.