FRECUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
VAT Tax in The Netherlands
VAT is the tax you pay for billing as a self-employed ( eenmanszaak ) or General partnership (vof ). VAT is calculated on the price of your goods or services, this declaration is presented and the declaration is paid every three months. You can deduct the VAT you have paid on business expenses.
VAT = Value Added Tax
BTW = Belasting Toegevoegde Waarde
The VAT declaration ( Omzetbelasting ) is a declaration that companies must make about the VAT they have invoiced. If you are a person who works as an employee, you do not need to send this declaration, but you are self-employed, you must make this declaration. It is important to know on what dates you must make the VAT declaration because they have an expiration date and if you pay taxes after that date you must pay a fine.
After you register your company ( eenmanszaak or vof ), you are obliged to make the VAT declaration quarterly in January, April, July, and October of each year, so that in :
First quarter (Q1-2022): in the month of APRIL 2022 you must declare all the income and expense invoices of your company with a date of issue between January – March
Second quarter (Q2-2022): in the month of JULY 2022 you must declare all the income and expense invoices of your company with a date of issue between April – June
Third quarter (Q3-2022): in the month of OCTOBER 2022 you must declare all your company’s income or expense invoices with an issue date between July – September.
Fourth quarter (Q4-2022): in the month of JANUARY 2023 you must declare your company’s income or expense invoices with an issue date between October – December.
You can make the payment of VAT taxes up to the last day that the VAT declaration is open (Q2-2023). In this case, since the declaration of the second quarter of 2023 is in JULY, you can make the payment until July 31, 2023. Keep in mind that if you do not make the payment of the taxes on time, you may have a penalty for late payment of taxes.
The Belastingdienst , is the entity where VAT payments are made, and has a bank account to make said transfer.
Belastingdienst bank account where tax payments are made is as follows:
tnv Belastingdienst Apeldoorn.
IBAN: NL86 INGB 0002 4455 88
SWIFT code: INGBNL2A
Bank name: ING Bank
Always remember to add the 16- digit payment reference ( betalingskenmerk ), otherwise they do not consider your payment as valid and they return the money you paid.
However, it is always recommended to check the official website of the Belastindienst, there is the official bank account.
THE BTW Nummer is the new VAT identification number. All sole proprietorships (eenmanszaak), will receive a letter from the tax authorities with a new VAT identification number.
The new VAT identification number looks like this: country code NL, 9 digits, the letter ‘B’ and a 2-digit check digit. The 9 digits no longer have anything to do with your Citizen Service Number (BSN). This is an example of the new VAT identification number: NL000099998B57.
In the following link, you can obtain your BTW number, just by adding the name of your company. https://btw-zoeken.nl/
OB NUMMER (OMZETBELASTINGNUMMER) This number will be used when communicating with the tax authorities. For example, if you write us a letter or call the Tax Information Line.
The sales tax number looks like this: your social security number with the addition B01. This is an example of the sales tax number (OB NUMMER): 111234567B01.
If after the VAT declaration is sent, you are entitled to a tax refund, then the tax authorities in the Netherlands send the VAT refund money directly to your bank account.
They can give you a VAT refund as long as you have updated a bank account in their system. That is, you must have indicated the IBAN and name of the account so that they can proceed with the tax refund.
You only need to update the bank account once and then in the next quarters that you have VAT refunds, you will be automatically reimbursed.
If at any time during the year you change your bank account, you must update it again in your system.
If you have to make a VAT correction where you are going to receive or have to pay less than EUR 1000, you can proceed to correct the correction in the next VAT return.
If the VAT correction exceeds EUR 1000, then the correction has to be made through the form called supplement to the VAT declaration ( suppletie omzetbelasting ).
In some cases, the tax authorities usually carry out an audit before a VAT refund. Audits are often received by post where the auditor requests :
– The list of invoices for the requested period.
– The records of the transactions.
– Copy of the KVK minutes.
– Description of the company’s activity.
– Explanation of a specific topic of that period.
Therefore it is very important to always have an adequate administration of your company. PSM Consultancy has a free accounting system for clients in which you can manage your company’s information in an orderly manner.
If the VAT declaration must be filed, no transaction has yet been made for that period. A declaration of no activity will be sent.
– Representation expenses, conferences, seminars, study trips can be deducted up to 4,800 EUR in 2022
– Business phone calls at home.
– Professional literature
– Work clothes, in that case, the clothes must bear a logo with an area of at least 70 cm2. The logo must refer to your company.
– Fines cannot be deducted.
– Business trips cost public transport, taxi and plane.
– Cost of study, only if the study expands existing knowledge
a) If you pay too late, that is, after the payment deadline. You still have the leniency period starts after the payment due date and ends 7 calendar days after the payment due date, you may not be fined.
b) If you pay too late, but within the leniency period:
There are 2 possibilities:
- You paid the previous tax return on time and in full. Then you will not receive a penalty for non-payment.
- You paid your previous tax return late or not in full. Then you will receive a late payment penalty of 3% of the delinquency, with a minimum of EUR 50 and a maximum of EUR 5,514.
c) Pay too late and after the leniency period.
In this case, you will receive a late payment penalty of 3% of the delinquency, with a minimum of EUR 50 EUR and a maximum of EUR 5,514.
d) Pay too late and part of the payment within and part after the leniency period.
In this case, you will receive a non-payment penalty of 3% of the total amount paid late (the total amount you paid within and after the leniency period), with a minimum of EUR 50 and a maximum of EUR 5,514.
e) If you do not pay or pay very little
If you did not pay your tax return, then you will receive an additional assessment with a penalty for non-payment of 3% of the non-payment, with a minimum of 50 EUR and a maximum of 5,514 EUR
If you paid only part of it too late, then the penalty is calculated on the total of the unpaid and late payments.