Municipal revenue from dog registration fees projected at 58 million euro

Municipal revenue from dog registration fees is projected at 58 million euro. Dog registration fees are more common in large cities than in rural municipalities and more often in the western than in the northern provinces.

Estimated revenue dog registration fees

Estimated revenue dog registration fees

Higher revenue, fewer municipalities

Estimated revenue from dog registration fees have increased from 43 million euro in 2001 to 58 million euro in 2011. The number of municipalities imposing tax on dog-owning residents was reduced from 385 (76 percent of all Dutch municipalities) in 2001 to 296 ((71 percent of all Dutch municipalities) in 2011.

Rotterdam has estimated the highest amount for 2011, i.e. more than 2 million euro. The amount for the tiny West Frisian island of Vlieland is estimated at 13 thousand euro. Revenue from dog registration fees are a modest source of income for municipalities in the Netherlands and make up less than 1 percent of all levy proceeds.

Dog registration fees by degree of urbanisation, 2011

Dog registration fees by degree of urbanisation, 2011

Large cities often tax dog owners

Most dog owners who have to pay dog registration fee live in large cities. More than 90 percent of municipalities with a (very) high degree of urbanisation impose tax on dog owners versus half of municipalities in rural areas.

Dog registration fees by province, 2011

Dog registration fees by province, 2011

Low revenue dog registration fees in Drenthe

Proportionally, fewer municipalities in the northern provinces impose dog registration fees than in other parts of the Netherlands. In Drenthe, Noordenveld is the only municipality where dog owners are taxed and in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland one in three municipalities tax dog owners.

In the provinces of Zeeland, Utrecht and South Holland, nine in ten municipalities tax dog-owning residents. In Zeeland, Goes is the only municipality not to impose dog registration fees; in the province of Utrecht, Renswoude and Nieuwegein are the only two municipalities without a dog registration fee.

Paul van der Beek