North Holland District Court rules that a legatee cannot object to the WOZ value of the property bequeathed to him.
WOZ value
The WOZ value is determined annually by the local authority and serves as the basis for local (property) tax. However, in the case of residential properties, the WOZ value must also be used for income tax purposes, as well as for inheritance and gift tax. For inheritance and gift tax purposes, the WOZ value for the year in which the gift was made or the estate was released is used, although the WOZ value for the following year may also be used.
Objection
Naturally, an objection can be lodged each year against the WOZ value set by the local authority. An objection may be lodged by any party with an interest in the WOZ value. This is the owner of the property and, in most cases, also the occupier of the property.
When the owner of a property dies, their heirs become interested parties in relation to the WOZ value. After all, they are required to pay inheritance tax based on the WOZ value. It is no longer possible to lodge an objection to the WOZ value because, in most cases, the objection period – six weeks from the date of the WOZ decision – has expired. This is unreasonable. That is why the law allows heirs to apply to the local authority for a new WOZ decision, against which an objection can, of course, be lodged.
Beneficiary
However, the District Court of North Holland concluded that a legatee is not an heir. It also held that the property is not part of a legatee’s estate, as a legatee merely has a right of claim against the heirs for the transfer of the property. The WOZ decision does not relate to this right to claim, meaning that the legatee is not entitled to lodge an objection to this decision. According to the Court, the situation of the legatee does not differ substantially from that of a buyer who, after concluding a contract of sale, is entitled to the transfer of the property and, on that basis, also has no right to object to the WOZ decision. A legatee who considers the WOZ value of a property to be too high is therefore dependent on the heirs to lodge an objection against the WOZ value (unless the legatee is also an heir).