Omzetbelasting (sales tax) and BTW (VAT) are often used interchangeably, but are they the same? Read the difference, how the system works and what it means for your business.
Omzetbelasting (sales tax) and BTW (belasting over de toegevoegde waarde — value added tax) are in the Netherlands exactly the same — they are two names for the same tax. Omzetbelasting is the official legal term from the Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968 (Sales Tax Act 1968). BTW is the common name use
VAT is an indirect tax levied on the value added at each stage of the production and trade chain. The consumer ultimately pays the full VAT — entrepreneurs remit the difference.
| Rate | Percentage | Applications | |--------|-----------|-------------| | Standard rate | 21% | Most goods and services | | Reduced rate | 9% | Food, books, medicines, hairdressers, painters/plasterers | | Zero rate | 0% | Exports, intra-Community supplies | | Exempt | — | Medical services, educat
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