Netherlands · Area of law · Belastingrecht
Tax law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 5,173 published decisions carry the tax law label (Belastingrecht) in the Netherlands, 3% fewer than in 2024. They come from 16 of the 19 courts, and Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant accounts for 33% of them. Together they make up 8.1% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 20255,173−3% over one year
- Share of all published decisions8.1%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions16 of 1911 district courts, 4 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countRechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant1,688 decisions, 33% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the tax law label, with the number of decisions, the share of all decisions with this label and the weight of this area in each court's own published decisions.
In 2025, 5,173 published decisions carry this label, 3% fewer than in 2024, from 16 of the 19 courts. Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant accounts for 1,688 (33%), followed by Hoge Raad (699) and Gerechtshof Den Haag (485). By level, district courts account for 56%, courts of appeal for 30% and the highest courts for 14%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 1,688 | 33% | 28% |
| Hoge Raad | Supreme Court | 699 | 14% | 71% |
| Gerechtshof Den Haag | Court of appeal | 485 | 9.4% | 38% |
| Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden | Court of appeal | 461 | 8.9% | 17% |
| Gerechtshof Amsterdam | Court of appeal | 320 | 6.2% | 19% |
| Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch | Court of appeal | 297 | 5.7% | 23% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 274 | 5.3% | 5.3% |
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 214 | 4.1% | 1.2% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 198 | 3.8% | 5.6% |
| Rechtbank Oost-Brabant | District court | 142 | 2.7% | 13% |
| Rechtbank Gelderland | District court | 127 | 2.5% | 6.1% |
| Rechtbank Rotterdam | District court | 105 | 2% | 2.3% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Nederland | District court | 85 | 1.6% | 6.6% |
| Rechtbank Amsterdam | District court | 69 | 1.3% | 2.5% |
| Rechtbank Overijssel | District court | 6 | 0.1% | 0.4% |
| Rechtbank Limburg | District court | 3 | under 0.1% | 0.2% |
Published decisions only: each court publishes a different share of its rulings, so these counts are not caseloads and cannot be compared as workloads.
Decisions year by year
This chart follows, year by year, the number of published decisions that carry the tax law label. The volume measures what is published, not the number of cases brought in the same year.
Over the period, the number of published tax law decisions went from 2,772 in 2013 to 5,173 in 2025 (+87%). The yearly count ranged from 2,708 in 2018 to 5,338 in 2024. These decisions were 8.1% of all published decisions in 2025 and 12% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 715 | 1,205 | 852 | 2,772 | 12% |
| 2014 | 797 | 997 | 1,006 | 2,800 | 11% |
| 2015 | 922 | 1,027 | 806 | 2,755 | 11% |
| 2016 | 884 | 1,091 | 878 | 2,853 | 11% |
| 2017 | 925 | 1,181 | 814 | 2,920 | 11% |
| 2018 | 968 | 1,006 | 734 | 2,708 | 10% |
| 2019 | 1,061 | 1,165 | 793 | 3,019 | 11% |
| 2020 | 1,565 | 1,207 | 863 | 3,635 | 10% |
| 2021 | 2,430 | 1,267 | 833 | 4,530 | 11% |
| 2022 | 3,047 | 1,326 | 775 | 5,148 | 12% |
| 2023 | 2,814 | 1,387 | 659 | 4,860 | 9.4% |
| 2024 | 3,032 | 1,628 | 678 | 5,338 | 9.3% |
| 2025 | 2,911 | 1,563 | 699 | 5,173 | 8.1% |
Series start in 2013, the first year of the current court map. The series reflect what courts publish and how decisions are labelled as well as what they decide.
Related areas
Each detailed area belongs to one of three broad groups of areas of law. The table sets tax law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Tax law decisions are 13% of the 38,907 published in 2025 under the administrative law label. Other detailed areas of the group include immigration law (16,353), social security law (3,996) and administrative procedure (2,505).
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the group | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative law | 38,907 | – | +10% |
| Tax law | 5,173 | 13% | −3% |
| Immigration law | 16,353 | 42% | +16% |
| Social security law | 3,996 | 10% | −7% |
| Administrative procedure | 2,505 | 6.4% | +19% |
| Planning and environmental law | 2,001 | 5.1% | +28% |
| Civil service law | 116 | 0.3% | −28% |
| European administrative law | 3 | under 0.1% | – |
| Competition law (administrative) | 3 | under 0.1% | – |
A decision can carry several labels, so the detailed areas do not add up to the group.
Understanding these figures
What tax law covers
Tax law covers disputes about taxes and levies: income tax, corporate tax, VAT, customs duties, inheritance tax, property transfer tax and the taxes of municipalities and water boards. The taxpayer first lodges an objection with the tax authority or the local authority before going to court. In 2025, 5,173 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Tax cases are heard by the district courts, then by the courts of appeal, and the Hoge Raad rules in cassation on points of law. In 2025, published decisions with this label came from 16 of the 19 courts.
A published selection
The figures count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, the website of the Dutch judiciary, where each decision carries a European Case Law Identifier (ECLI). Courts publish only part of their rulings, and the share published differs from one court to another, from one area of law to another and from one year to the next. For tax law, the published decisions of 2025 are those counted; they are not the number of cases brought.
How areas of law are labelled
Each published decision carries one or more area-of-law labels. There are three broad groups, administrative law, civil law and public international law, and, within them, detailed areas such as tax law or family law. A decision can carry several labels, and some carry only a broad one, so the detailed areas do not add up to their group and counts for different areas cannot be added together.
Reading these figures with care
The number of published tax law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant alone published 33% of them, and the decisions come from 16 courts. The number of detailed area labels per published decision went from 0.46 in 2013 to 0.73 in 2025, so the evolution of a detailed area also reflects how often these labels are applied. The data hold counts only, with no outcome and no time to judgment, and no statistic can predict the outcome of a particular case.
Frequently asked questions
How many tax law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 5,173 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the tax law label, 3% fewer than in 2024. They come from 16 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 8.1% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish tax law decisions?
In 2025, Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant published 1,688 of them, followed by Hoge Raad (699) and Gerechtshof Den Haag (485). District courts account for 56% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 30% and the highest courts for 14%.
Has the number of published tax law decisions changed over time?
The number of published tax law decisions went from 2,772 in 2013 to 5,173 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from 12% in 2013 to 8.1% in 2025.
What does tax law cover?
Tax law covers disputes about taxes and levies: income tax, corporate tax, VAT, customs duties, inheritance tax, property transfer tax and the taxes of municipalities and water boards.
Do these figures show how many tax law cases are brought?
No. They count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, a selection of all rulings, and a case can produce several decisions. The counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.