Home Foreign businesses Foreign contractors: VAT on construction and installation
Foreign contractors: VAT on construction and installation
Construction work, installation and repairs on buildings in the Netherlands are taxed in the Netherlands, wherever your company is based. Whether you register here depends on who your customer is.
Dutch VAT for your project, arranged
If you need a Dutch VAT number: registration with everything included, then a fixed fee per quarter.
Where the work is taxed
Construction, renovation, repairs and other work on buildings and land are taxed where the property is located (Article 6b of the Dutch VAT Act). Goods that you supply and install or assemble on site are supplied where they are installed (Article 5(1) of the Dutch VAT Act). For work in the Netherlands that means Dutch VAT, usually at 21%.
Who pays the Dutch VAT
- Your customer is a business or legal entity established in the Netherlands: the VAT is reverse-charged to the customer (Article 12(3) of the Dutch VAT Act). You invoice without Dutch VAT and need no Dutch VAT number for this work
- You work as a subcontractor for a main contractor: the construction reverse charge applies, also when the main contractor is foreign. The main contractor accounts for the VAT, and a foreign main contractor needs a Dutch VAT number for that
- Your customer is a private person: you charge Dutch VAT yourself. Services such as renovation and repairs you can declare through the OSS, without a Dutch VAT number: the Union scheme in your own country for EU companies, the non-Union scheme for companies from outside the EU. For goods you supply and install, you register in the Netherlands; from 1 July 2028 those can also go through the OSS
- Your customer is a foreign company that is neither established here nor a main contractor: you charge Dutch VAT yourself, and you register in the Netherlands
A foreign subcontractor without a Dutch establishment never puts Dutch VAT on its invoice to a Dutch customer. If it does, the customer cannot deduct that VAT.
Your costs in the Netherlands
Materials, tool hire and hotels in the Netherlands come with Dutch VAT. With a Dutch VAT number you deduct it in your return. Without one, you reclaim it through the refund procedure: Dutch VAT refund for foreign businesses.
With a Dutch VAT number that deduction is part of your quarterly return; see Dutch VAT returns for non-resident businesses.
Not VAT, but also needed
- Workers posted to the Netherlands: notify each posting in advance through the Dutch notification portal for posted workers. That is employment law; we do not handle it
- A long project can create a permanent establishment for corporate income tax. The tax treaty sets the period, often 12 months
- Payroll tax and social security for your workers depend on the tax treaty and the A1 certificate. We can run the Dutch payroll as well: see payroll for foreign employers
Example
An installation company from Germany has two projects in the Netherlands in one quarter:
- It installs machinery for € 80,000 in the factory of a Dutch BV (private limited company). The VAT is reverse-charged: the invoice shows no Dutch VAT, and the BV reports and deducts € 16,800
- It fits a kitchen for € 20,000 (excl. VAT) in the home of a private customer in Utrecht. It charges 21% Dutch VAT, € 4,200, and files a Dutch VAT return
- In that return it deducts the € 630 Dutch VAT on materials bought in the Netherlands for € 3,000
- Dutch VAT return: € 4,200 due, € 630 deductible, € 3,570 to pay
This is a worked example at the 21% rate, not a client case. We check your contracts before you start.
What we do
We look at your contracts and customers and tell you which invoices are reverse-charged and whether you need a Dutch VAT number. If you do, we arrange the registration (€ 275, everything included) and the quarterly returns (€ 100 per month for all your Dutch VAT returns, € 150 with the OSS return).
Frequently asked questions
Does a foreign subcontractor charge Dutch VAT?
No. A subcontractor without a Dutch establishment invoices without Dutch VAT; the main contractor or the Dutch customer accounts for it.
When does a foreign contractor need a Dutch VAT number?
When it supplies and installs goods for private customers in the Netherlands, or works for a foreign customer that is neither established here nor a main contractor. Services for private customers, such as renovation, can go through the OSS, and from 1 July 2028 installation can too. Work for Dutch businesses is reverse-charged.
Do you handle payroll for our workers in the Netherlands?
Yes. We register you as an employer and run the Dutch payroll: payslips, payroll returns and annual statements, for € 25 per employee per month. Whether Dutch payroll tax and contributions apply depends on the tax treaty and the A1 certificate. We also tell you whether the notification of posted workers applies.
What do I put on the invoice when the VAT is reverse-charged?
No VAT amount, but the words 'btw verlegd' (VAT reverse-charged) and your customer's VAT number.
Does the reverse charge also apply when we hire out staff to a Dutch company?
Yes. A foreign company hiring out staff without a fixed establishment in the Netherlands never puts Dutch VAT on its invoice; the VAT is reverse-charged to the customer. If VAT is shown anyway, the customer cannot deduct it.
Is my Dutch client liable for my payroll taxes?
It can be. Under the chain liability rules a contractor is jointly and severally liable for the payroll taxes of its subcontractor, and a hirer of staff also for the VAT if it was not reverse-charged (Articles 34 and 35 of the Dutch Tax Collection Act 1990). The contractor can limit that risk by paying part of the amount into the subcontractor's G account.
Working on a project in the Netherlands? Tell us who your customer is and what you do.
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