Netherlands Netherlands

Goods

VAT Standard rate

The VAT standard rate in the Netherlands in 2023 is 21%.

 

The Lovat VAT compliance platform

 

VAT Reduced rate

You can apply a reduced rate of 9% for the following products:

  • Food;
  • Water;
  • Agricultural products;
  • Medicines and auxiliary products;
  • Art, collectibles, and antiques;
  • Books and periodicals.

You can apply the 0% rate for the following deliveries:

  • Goods that you deliver abroad;
  • Goods that have not yet been imported;
  • Goods that you supply to the VAT warehouse or on it;
  • Supply of ships and aircraft;
  • Fishing;
  • Excise goods.

See the summary of the EU VAT rates.

 

Deductible VAT

If goods or services were used to make taxable supplies in the Netherlands, VAT in input invoices might be credited.

Examples include: you bought goods from an entrepreneur in another EU country or you were transferred VAT

 

Thresholds

From the 1st of July 2021, the distance selling thresholds were withdrawn and replaced by a unified threshold of €10,000 for all EU members.

In other words, VAT should be charged at the VAT rate of the customer’s country of residence by companies whose annual taxable cross-border turnover is over €10,000.

 

Registration procedure

You must send the following attachments to this form:

  • Documents showing which industry you are active in your home country;
  • If you are registered with a foreign Chamber of Commerce: a certificate of registration;
  • If you have an agent: a copy of the authorization;
  • If you are resident in a non-EU country: a tax statement from that country;
  • If the entrepreneur is a natural person or partner: a copy of the ID for any natural person who does not have a Social Security number;
  • If your company has a different legal form: a copy of the instrument of incorporation.

 

Tax representative

There is no requirement to appoint a tax representative in the Netherlands.

 

Keeping records

In the Netherlands, there are strict rules on the layout and format of VAT records to be kept by companies or their tax agents. Records must be kept by the taxable person or by the keeper of its accounts and reported to the competent Tax Agency.

You will need to keep regular notes on your ICVs, consisting of the invoices you received and the expenses you spent on the ICVs. You are required to keep your records for 7 years.

 

VAT payment date

If you are a budding entrepreneur the tax service will send you the first declaration for aspiring entrepreneurs in electronic form or on paper.

You need to pay VAT, but you have not yet received a VAT return from the tax service. In this case, always request a VAT return within 1 month after the period for which you must pay VAT.

 

Filing VAT returns

A taxpayer must transmit tax returns to the Btw-Alert by electronic means.

If you submit your tax returns monthly, you must submit your tax return no later than 2 months after the reporting period.

For example, the declaration for January must be submitted no later than the last day of March.

 

Need help with VAT compliance?

Digital services

VAT rate

The standard VAT rate in the Netherlands in 2023 is 21%.

 

VAT Reduced rate

The reduced VAT rate is 9% for digital books and newspapers.

 

The Lovat VAT compliance platform

 

Thresholds

Companies incorporated or having a permanent establishment in the EU can use the rules for low annual turnovers. In this case, the threshold is €10,000.

Companies established outside the European Union cannot benefit from the intra-EU threshold. The threshold for registration for companies outside of the EU is zero. It means that they are obliged to register from the first sale. Such businesses may register for non-Union OSS instead of registration in Belgium.

The threshold for registration for local businesses is €25,000.

 

Pieces of evidence

There is a list of basic criteria to determine the location of the buyer. It is extremely important for determining tax obligations.

  • Customer’s permanent address;
  • Billing address (bank or electronic payment operator);
  • Internet Protocol (IP) address;
  • Telephone number;
  • The location of the customer’s fixed landline through which the service is supplied to him;
  • Other commercially relevant information.

And if two of them are in the Netherlands, the customer may be determined as Dutch.

 

E-services list

A digital product is any product that is stored, delivered, and used in an electronic format. These are goods or services that a customer can receive by e-mail, by downloading them from the Internet, or by logging into a website. In particular, the law names the following as digital services:

  • Electronic books, images, movies, and videos, whether buying a copy from Shopify or using a service (for example Amazon Prime). In tax materials, these products are referred to as “Audio, visual or audiovisual products”;
  • Downloadable and streaming music, whether buying an MP3 or using music services;
  • Cloud-based software and as-a-Service products (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS);
  • Websites, site hosting services, and Internet service providers;
  • Online ads and affiliate marketing.

 

Registration procedure

To register, you need to fill out a registration application. To do this, you will need the following information about the company:

  • Full information about the company: Company’s name, a trading name of the company (If applicable), full postal address, email address and website of the taxable person, name and phone number of the contact person;
  • National tax number (If applicable);
  • Country in which the taxable person has his place of business;
  • International bank account number or IBAN number and BIC;
  • An electronic declaration that the taxable person is not registered for VAT within the Union;
  • Date of commencement of using the scheme.

The documents must be drafted and provided in Dutch for registration.

 

Tax representative

There is no requirement to appoint a tax representative in the Netherlands.

 

Keeping records

The retention period of Tax documents for VAT is 7 years – the tax authorities have the right to request them.

 

Filling VAT returns

VAT returns are generally filed quarterly. Taxable persons may be authorized by the VAT authorities to submit a monthly or annual VAT return.

VAT returns must be filed within 1 month after the end of the tax period.

 

VAT payment date

VAT amounts must be paid within 1 month after the end of the tax period.

 

Need help with VAT compliance?