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Koksijde’s tax regulations on second homes are contrary to the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination. The court of appeal in Ghent decided this.
The court rules that the tax that second-home residents have to pay is unreasonable. “This justification cannot objectively justify the introduction of a different tax system between permanent residents who can benefit from the zero percent rate of the additional municipal tax on personal income tax, on the one hand, and second residents who are subject to the second residence tax, on the other hand,” the court states. in his judgment.
Furthermore, in its judgment, the court addresses the argument that the tax is justified as a flat-rate wealth tax on the use of a luxury good. “In the preamble to the tax regulations, the municipality also refers to the general municipal tax, to which the users of second homes do not contribute due to a lack of permanent residence. While the municipality states in its conclusions that the tax on second homes does not have a compensatory character, this reference in the preamble shows that the general municipal tax has at least been taken into account when determining the tax on second homes. The second-time residents are being discriminated against in concrete terms,” is the conclusion.
“After all, they fall within the scope of the tax regulations, where persons who, given the actual purpose of the tax, are in an identical situation are in fact not subject to such a tax. The accountability that the municipality of Koksijde uses in the tax regulations, in particular the protection of residential living in the municipality, the increase of permanent residence and the attraction of more residents, is not reasonably acceptable,” the court concludes.