Objection deadline (bezwaartermijn): when are your six weeks up?
A letter from the Belastingdienst or the municipality, and you don’t agree. You have six weeks. Six weeks from when, exactly?
Short answer
You have six weeks to object. They start the day after the date on the letter. On a tax assessment that is the date marked “Dagtekening”. Your last day is the same weekday, six weeks later. If that day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, you have until the next working day.
A tax assessment, a WOZ value that seems too high, a benefit that was turned down. If you disagree, you can object (in Dutch: bezwaar maken). But only for six weeks. Miss them by a day and your objection usually isn’t looked at. Here’s how to count, and a calculator that does it for you.
Work out your deadline
Your objection has to arrive by .
Six weeks end on . That’s a weekend day or public holiday, so you get until the next working day.
Sending it by post? Then it counts if you post it by that day and it arrives within a week after.
The calculator runs in your browser. The date you enter isn’t sent anywhere. It counts the general rules below. The letter itself always says how long you have.
How to count six weeks
- Find the date on the letter. On a tax assessment (aanslag) from the Belastingdienst, the six weeks run from the day after the date of the assessment, the dagtekening (Awr, article 22j). Municipal taxes and the WOZ follow the same rules (Gemeentewet, article 231).
- Other decisions, like a permit or a benefit: the six weeks run from the day after the decision was sent or handed to you (Awb, articles 3:41 and 6:8). That is usually the date on the letter.
- Day one is the next day. The six weeks themselves come from Awb, article 6:7.
- Count six weeks. Your last day falls on the same weekday as the date on the letter. A letter dated Tuesday 3 November 2026 gives you until Tuesday 15 December 2026.
- Weekend or holiday? If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next day that isn’t (Algemene termijnenwet, article 1).
The holidays that count: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, King’s Day, 5 May and both Christmas days (Algemene termijnenwet, article 3). 5 May counts every year, not only every five years.
When is it on time?
- Online or by hand: it has to arrive before the end of the six weeks (Awb, article 6:9).
- By post: it counts if you posted it before the end of the six weeks and it arrives no later than a week after (Awb, article 6:9). Keep proof of when you sent it.
Look at the end of the letter
A decision you can object to has to say so: who you object to, and within what time (Awb, article 3:45). That paragraph is usually at the bottom or on the back. If it says something different from this page, follow the letter.
Too late?
A late objection is normally declared inadmissible. Not if you reasonably can’t be blamed for being late (Awb, article 6:11). Then explain why in your objection. Don’t count on it: object in time, even with a short letter, and add the details later. For a tax assessment, see what the Belastingdienst says: too late for an objection.
This guide explains the general rules from the law. It isn’t legal advice. For a large amount or a complicated case, ask the Juridisch Loket or an adviser.
Where Melo helps
The six weeks are easy to count. Remembering them is harder: the letter goes in a drawer and the date goes with it.
Give a letter to Melo for Mac and it tells you what you have to pay or do, and by when. Ask it to put the date in your calendar and it suggests an event, which goes in when you click Add. Melo runs on your Mac, so the letter stays there. Melo can be wrong, so check the date against the letter.