Summary
Since July 1st 2009, the Act ‘Basic Registrations Addresses and Buildings’ (Dutch acronym: BAG) was put into force. This legislation includes stipulations regarding which ‘residential objects’ may be provided with a house number. This law was amended in 2013: in the future, dependent residences like student rooms or rooms in nursing homes will no longer be qualified for individual house numbers. Therefore, municipalities exclusively register independent residences in the BAG. This operation needs to be ready before January 1st 2017. Through this operation, unique addresses of rooms will disappear, as they will be merged into 1 residence with a single house number. Who used to have house number 2D, for example, will henceforth have house number 2.
Frequently Asked Questions:
All at 1 address: what is the precise situation?
What will be the consequences for my allowance?
How does the Tax Authority determine the right to and amount of rent allowance?
Will I keep my right to rent allowance despite the disappearance of my unique address?
What should I do if my allowance is terminated?
Through my portal, I am able to access the details about co-residents? How is this possible?
How does the Tax Authority cope with all of this?
Will I always be notified by the Tax Authority?
Will I be informed in advance if my rent allowance is terminated?
What to do if I disagree with the termination of rent allowance?
Should I notify the Tax Authority of my move?
How can I check the status of my rent allowance?
Do I have to reapply for allowance myself?
What will this process be like in the future?
What if I apply for rent allowance, and the portal indicates I am not entitled?
All at 1 address: what is the precise situation?
Since July 1st 2009, the Act ‘Basic Registrations Addresses and Buildings’ (Dutch acronym: BAG) was put into force. This legislation includes stipulations regarding which ‘residential objects’ may be provided with a house number. This law was amended in 2013: in the future, dependent residences like student rooms or rooms in nursing homes will no longer be qualified for individual house numbers. Therefore, municipalities exclusively register independent residences in the BAG. This operation needs to be ready before January 1st 2017. Through this operation, unique addresses of rooms will disappear, as they will be merged into 1 residence with a single house number. Who used to have house number 2D, for example, will henceforth have house number 2.
What will be the consequences for my allowance?
By merging residents of dependent residences together into one big unit with 1 address, unwarranted compositions of households may arise within the Tax Administration (Dutch: Belastingdienst/Toeslagen). This may cause the applicant for allowance to suddenly deal with an extra allowance partner or housemate. These are accessible (name, date of birth and not entirely disclosed Citizen Service Number (Dutch acronym: BSN)) via the portal ‘My Allowances’ (Dutch: Mijn Toeslagen). This may cause your allowances to be lowered or even terminated. This is due to the fact rent allowance takes into account the means-tested income of any allowance partner and housemate(s). The municipality applies a different criterion in establishing independent housing than the Tax Authority does. The BAG deems a residence independent provided that it includes a kitchen, shower and toilet. According to the criteria on which the Tax Authority is founded, a residence is independent if it at least includes a kitchen and a toilet. If a tenant receives a warranted allowance, they will keep their right as long as they meet the criteria for rent allowance. The Tax Authority applies its own definition in deciding whether the tenant inhabits an independent residence.
How does the Tax Authority determine the right to and amount of rent allowance?
In order to receive rent allowance, you need to comply with a number of conditions. Two of these include that you need to be registered at the municipality and that your income should not be too high. Tax Authority has a statutory duty to address the Key Register of Persons (Dutch acronym: BRP) in the process of establishing the right. The BPR includes who is living at which address, but not what the household composition is like. The Tax Authority uses i.a. the BRP-details to determine the household composition. The Tax Authority needs the household composition in order to determine the income. (For rent allowance; the income of the applicant, possibly the allowance partner and housemate). If all dependent units are registered at 1 address, it is more difficult for the Tax Authority to separate these into distinct households. This may give rise to unwarranted compositions of households. This may lead to the termination or lowering of the amount of allowance(s).
Will I keep my right to rent allowance despite the disappearance of my unique address?
In case you live at a residence that has been assigned to be qualifying for rent allowance prior to June 1st 1997, you keep your right to rent allowance. In 1967, the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (Dutch acronym: VROM) at the time composed a list of dependent student housing units qualifying for the right to rent allowance. These entitled exceptions are fixed in a registry at the Tax Authority.
What should I do if my allowance is terminated?
Reach out to your landlord. They are in direct contact with the Tax Authority and are able to inform us about your specific address. The Tax Authority uses this information in order to (among other things) determine whether your allowance has been terminated on a warranted or unwarranted basis. If your questions remain unanswered, you can call the tax authorities at 0800 – 0543 (for free). They are available from Mondays to Thursdays from 8 AM to 8 PM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 5 PM. Please include in your question that you live in a student complex and that you have dealt with a change of address.
Through my portal, I am able to access the details about co-residents? How is this possible?
Through merging dependent residences together into one big unit with 1 address, unwarranted compositions of households may arise within the Tax Administration (Dutch: Belastingdienst/Toeslagen). With an ongoing rent allowance, the applicant gets to see unwarranted residents in his/her portal, including name, date of birth and a partially visible BSN. If this is indeed the case, and you live in a student complex of which the addresses have been changed, please reach out to your landlord. They are in direct contact with the Tax Authority and are able to inform us about your specific address. The Tax Authority uses this information provided by the landlord in order to correct an unwarranted household composition – including the details in the portal. You may also call the tax authorities: 0800 – 0543 (for free). They are available from Mondays to Thursdays from 8 AM to 8 PM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 5 PM. Please include in your question that you live in a student complex and that you have dealt with a change of address.
How does the Tax Authority cope with all of this?
The Tax Authority is working on adequately marking the changes of addresses within its own systems, in order to prevent unwarranted merging of households. The municipalities as well as the landlords actively cooperate. Due to this, the Tax Authority is able to take action in a timely fashion to avoid unwarranted terminations or reductions of allowances. In case of issues with addressing, students may also seek help from their landlord. They are in direct contact with the Tax Authority.
Will I always be notified by the Tax Authority?
No. You will only be notified if you are no longer entitled to rent allowance according to our standards (see question below). In case you do have rent allowance, and this right continues to exist in accordance with our information, then your rent allowance will just continue to be provided. In case your allowance has been terminated on an unwarranted basis, this will be corrected as quickly as possible. You will not receive an extra notification by the Tax Authority regarding changes of address.
Will I be informed in advance if my rent allowance is terminated?
If you receive rent allowance, and you are not entitled to this according to our information, you will be called by the Tax Authority. Your landlord is also contacted with the question whether the residence is independent. If our information is incorrect, the rent allowance is resumed. In case the Tax Authority fails to reach you or it is not in possession of your phone number, you will receive a letter requesting you to contact us.
What to do if I disagree with the termination of rent allowance?
In case you have received a letter confirming the termination, you may raise an objection. How you can do that is formulated in this letter of termination.
Should I notify the Tax Authority of my move?
No, this is not necessary. The Tax Authority is automatically notified of your move by the municipalities. This, in turn, will be automatically processed in the Tax Authority’s records. Via the website www.toeslagen.nl, you may log in to the portal ‘My Allowances’ (Dutch: Mijn Toeslagen) using your Digid. Here, you will be able to see whether your new address has already been processed. Please be aware: if your rent is lowered or increased, you need to notify the Tax Authority about this.
How can I check the status of my rent allowance?
Via the website www.toeslagen.nl, you may log in to the portal ‘My Allowances’ (Dutch: Mijn Toeslagen) using your Digid. Here, you will be provided with an overview of your allowances, including your rent allowance.
Do I have to reapply for allowance myself?
No, you do not have to reapply for rent allowance yourself if you received rent allowance for your old address.
Does this mean something will change for other allowances too (care allowance, child budget and childcare allowance)?
If the Tax Authority’s process of composing the household situation proceeds smoothly, then this will have no impact. If this did not go well, then this may have an impact on your right to or the amount of your other allowances. You may check this by logging in to the portal ‘My Allowances’ (Dutch: Mijn Toeslagen) via www.toeslagen.nl. If any residents that do not belong to your household are displayed, please contact your landlord. They are in direct contact with the Tax Authority. They may transfer the information about your specific address. The Tax Authority uses this information provided by the landlord in order to correct an unwarranted household composition – including the details in the portal. You may also call the tax authorities: 0800 – 0543 (for free). You can reach them from Mondays to Thursdays from 8 AM to 8 PM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 5 PM.
What will this process be like in the future?
Tax Authority’s ambition is to keep exchanging address details with the landlords on a regular basis. Then, when residents are moving, the Tax Authority would immediately register them in the right residential unit. This way, unwarranted compositions of households are avoided and residential units eligible for rent allowances could more quickly be provided with these. In case the new resident applies for rent allowance before we have received and processed the correct information from the landlord in our system, the portal indicates an absence of right. Then, it is necessary to call the tax authorities in order to request rent allowance.
What if I apply for rent allowance, and the portal indicates I am not entitled?
Within the system of the Tax Authority, the information of the landlord needs to be processed. This includes the residential unit and the name of the resident. If this is not the case, the portal indicates that there is no right to rent allowance. When this happens, call the tax authorities and indicate that you live in a student complex that operates a single address for all rooms.
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