Following the judgment of the Supreme Court of 26 June 2016 (ECLI:NL:HR:2016:1267) the appeal court in The Hague has rendered a landmark judgment in a dispute on municipal tax on encroachments on, over and under public land and water (precario). The dispute evolves around a tax assessment of EUR 544,695 imposed on distribution company Enduris by the municipality of Hulst. The objection of Enduris against this assessment was rejected and by judgment of 15 November 2016 the district court in The Hague rejected the appeal of Enduris (ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2016:14428). By judgment of 26 September 2017 the appeal court in The Hague quashed this judgment and reduced the tax assessment to a minimal amount. The appeal court ruled that the municipality of Hulst as owner of the land is contractually obliged to allow for the existence of the electricity cables of Enduris pursuant to contracts entered into between the predecessor of Enduris and the municipality, including sector wide general conditions, and is therefore precluded from imposing municipal taxex on encroachments.
Click here for the judgment of the appeal court in The Hague (in Dutch) and here for the article in regional newspaper PZC (in Dutch).
