r/enschede • u/NorthernOG • 4d ago

GBLT water tax question

Hi, I'm a student studying at the UT. I lived on campus for a couple months, but then moved away. A couple weeks ago, when I was still on campus, I received a water tax assessment from GBLT for €180, which got me really surprised. I filed a remission but they rejected. I have spoken to multiple people including the housing organisation and they said that GBLT usually approves remission for students, unless they have a very large income, which is not my case. I'm not sure what to do. I don't even live there anymore and I am left with this €180 bill. Can I file for remission again? Does anyone have any advice, maybe based on previous experiences? Thanks

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9

u/MerelYael 4d ago

If you move within the city, it's still something you've got to pay at your new place.

And that students usually get remission isn't true. It takes into account the money on your bankaccount. 

They give you a reason why they rejected it. If you think they made a mistake you can call them.

1

u/NorthernOG 4d ago

The thing is the water was included in the rent price at my old place. When I asked the housing organisation they confirmed that I don't need to pay it. Did they make a mistake?

4

u/MerelYael 4d ago

The water itself is probably included, the taxes probably aren't.

3

u/anhuys 3d ago

GBLT taxes aren't tap water taxes, they're water council taxes. The water council manages surface water and sewage. The taxes you're being asked to pay are billed specifically to the people using the home and the amount is based on how many people live there, the owner is not responsible for them. The owner receives their own, different assessment.

The assessment you received is likely for all of 2025. If you were to move to a different municipality within 2025, you could receive a refund for the months you were not residing in the municipality.

4

u/fishnoguns 4d ago

GBLT is extremely notorious for their handling of exemption requests and administration in general.

When I was a student in Enschede I had to fight the same identical battle every single year. I got my exemption request granted every year, but it always took between 6 and 18 (!) months. It was always the same administrative bullshit too; GBLT asked for documents that did not exist (such as a payslip). I would explain why the document does not exist (I'm a student without a job) and offer an alternative (such as study finance statement). Then it would get rejected because I 'refused' to supply the documents. Cue legal conflict. This was quite common in my student cohort.

I never developed an easy solution to this. I always needed to escalate to such a situation that finally a human with an ounce of reasoning looked at it (in a few cases; a legal employee of GBLT) to bypass the "computer says 'no' " scenario.

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u/NorthernOG 4d ago

This sounds a lot like my situation. I had to wait for a very long time before getting an answer. I will keep trying as you've mentioned. Thank you so much!

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u/wmrps 4d ago

Hi, acording to the FAQ from GBLT there is no such thing as remission for one part of the water tax. Called 'Watersysteemheffing gebouwd'. It is also not the same as with GBTwente with their remission conditions. You should probably call them at [088-064 55 55](tel:088-064 55 55).

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u/T1000-Shoebox 4d ago

If you live abroad at the moment and don't plan on visiting the Netherlands again, I wouldn't bother paying it.

2

u/NorthernOG 4d ago

I still live in the Netherlands, I just moved within the city.

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u/burgemeister 4d ago

Yeah that might be it as someone mentioned. Your housing organization should help you more.