Letters from the gemeente: local taxes, bijstand and the shortest deadlines

The gemeente is one authority, but its letters are not one kind of letter. The same address sends the heaviest tax envelope of the year, decisions about social assistance, and a small request for a document that has to be answered within days. The six week objection period applies to most municipal letters; the expensive ones are those with a period far shorter than six weeks.

The envelope at the start of the year: tax assessment and WOZ

The single sheet that arrives in the first months of the year usually carries several items at once:

Item	Who pays
OZBproperty tax · On homes it is paid by the owner only	The owner (a tenant does not)
Afvalstoffenheffingwaste levy	The household living there
Rioolheffingsewerage levy	Owner, occupant or both, depending on the municipality
Hondenbelasting	Dog owners, in municipalities that still charge it

The same envelope usually holds the WOZ-beschikkingproperty value decision · The official value the municipality puts on your home; several taxes are based on it. WOZ is the official value the municipality puts on your home, and it does not only set the OZBproperty tax · On homes it is paid by the owner only: the eigenwoningforfait in your income tax and some of the water authority's charges are based on it too. The WOZ value that applies for 2026 is the value of the home on 1 January 2025, so it is the start of last year rather than today's market.

The assessment also tells you about paying in instalments. With a direct debit mandate, most municipalities spread the amount across the year.

Objecting: six weeks, and free

The period for objecting runs six weeks from the date on the letter (dagtekeningthe date on the letter · The date the periods are counted from). You file with DigiD through the municipality's website or by post, and it is always free. If your grounds are not ready, send a short pro forma objection inside the period; the municipality then gives you extra time for the reasons.

Two things to know while you object:

• Objecting does not stop the payment. If you want to postpone paying, ask for uitstel van betaling in your objection; this is usually granted only for the part you are objecting to.
• You do not need an agent. The "no win, no fee" WOZ agencies are legal, but you can file the same objection yourself for nothing. What shifts a value is concrete information rather than a polished presentation: sale prices of comparable homes, defects in the property, a wrong floor area.

If you cannot pay, ask for kwijtscheldingremission of a tax debt · For low incomes; a separate request, not an objection

If the amount is correct but there is no income to pay it from, an objection is the wrong door. The right one is a kwijtscheldingremission of a tax debt · For low incomes; a separate request, not an objection request: on a low income and with low savings, the municipality writes off all or part of the municipal taxes. It has its own form and cannot be done with the objection form. Most municipalities offer a quick eligibility test first.

Bijstandsocial assistance letters: this is where the shortest deadlines are

In a social assistance file the periods are measured in days rather than weeks.

Application and decision. The municipality has to decide within eight weeks of your application. If no decision has been made within four weeks, you have a right to an advance (voorschotadvance payment · Paid when the decision is late; it is an interest free loan): at least 90% of the norm that applies to you, paid as an interest free loan and repeated every four weeks until the decision comes. It is settled against your first payment once assistance is granted. There is no advance if you have not handed in the documents asked of you, or if it is clear from the start that there is no right.

The missing documents letter. When a document is missing from the file, the municipality gives you a short period to supply it, often a few days, and the letter says how long. Miss it and the application can be closed without being assessed on its merits (buiten behandelingset aside without a decision · What happens to an application when missing documents do not arrive in time). This is the one situation where a letter sitting in a bag for a week costs a monthly income.

The duty to report. While you receive assistance you have to report changes in your situation: work and income, moving house, changes in the household, long trips. Since 1 January 2026 the rules have eased slightly: if the gifts and contributions you receive in a year total less than 1,200 euro you do not have to report them, though you do have to keep your own records. Above that total, reporting is required.

If a change is not reported, what was overpaid is reclaimed and a fine can follow. The law allows a fine of up to 100% of the amount involved; the municipality lowers it according to how much blame there is and what you can afford. The logic stays the same either way: a late report is far cheaper than one that never comes.

The other letters from the gemeente

• Parking letters (naheffingsaanslagadditional assessment · The name of the letter when parking was not paid). Not a fine but a tax charged after the fact; the objection period is again six weeks.
• Wmo decisions. Home help, transport, adaptations. These are decisions, with six weeks to object.
• Address investigations. You are asked whether you really live at your registered address. Left unanswered, the registration can be removed, and that touches everything from DigiD to health insurance.
• School and leerplicht letters. Absence letters come with their own deadlines and invitations to a meeting.

What Letrin does with municipal post

Because municipal letters look alike, the first question is usually "which one is this?". Letrin reads the photo and says in your own language whether it is a tax assessment, a decision or a request for documents, what the amount is, which date is the deadline and what exactly is expected of you.

On short document deadlines the reminders matter most: 7 days before, 2 days before and on the morning of the last day. If a reply is needed, a draft in proper formal Dutch is prepared with a translation in your own language beside it.

Check it against the paper

Explanations are there to help and they are not legal advice. Municipalities set their own rules: kwijtscheldingremission of a tax debt · For low incomes; a separate request, not an objection limits, instalment options and document deadlines differ from city to city. The exact answer is always in your own letter and on your own municipality's pages.

If you need help, Juridisch Loket and the municipality's sociaal raadslieden are free.