VAT exemption disputed? Assess your supplies, contracts and deductions

1. Describe the supply before choosing an exemption

Prepare an overview of the services or goods your business actually supplies. State the commissioning party, recipient, contract period, result and remuneration. Use quotations, work descriptions and representative invoices. A general description such as advice or care may conceal several different supplies. Also record work sold as part of a package; the presentation on your website does not always match actual performance.

Have the assessment relate to the year concerned and the agreements then in force. A new contract does not automatically change the treatment of earlier work. Identify established facts and disputed contract interpretations. During an investigation, a clear supply map helps more than merely listing similar professions that an internet page says may sometimes qualify for exemption.

2. Distinguish sector exemption, KOR and the zero rate

A substantive exemption is not the same as the zero rate. For zero-rated goods, the Belastingdienst describes specific invoice wording and evidence requirements. Nor does low annual turnover automatically mean your activities are inherently exempt. For the Dutch small businesses scheme, KOR, guidance mentions, among other things, establishment in the Netherlands and annual turnover of no more than €20,000; participation and conditions require separate examination.

Ask which specific scheme supports invoicing without VAT. Keep any KOR registration and the confirmed commencement date separate from the file on the nature of your service. A customer wanting a cheaper invoice cannot simply replace the tax classification with a commercial agreement. Some schemes provide options, but do not assume every exemption can be freely chosen or reversed.

3. Examine the contract and actual performance for each assignment

Official healthcare guidance shows why a professional title alone is insufficient. For a services agreement, it mentions responsibility and risk borne personally, alongside the requirement that the work itself meet the exemption conditions. The same healthcare professional may have different assignments requiring separate assessment. Therefore describe who determines the content, who is responsible and which service is supplied to which party.

Supplying staff and providing healthcare yourself are not necessarily the same. The Belastingdienst specifies separate rules for making staff available and states that a healthcare employment agency does not become exempt merely because the staff it supplies are BIG-registered. Use this as a question to investigate with intermediaries or institutions; do not transfer the precise healthcare conditions to education, financial services or letting, for example, where different conditions apply.

4. Calculate the consequences for your own purchases

For exempt supplies, no VAT is charged to the customer and the attributable input VAT is generally not deductible. That can make a substantial difference for staffing support, equipment or accommodation. Therefore consider not only whether a customer requests a refund, but also which deductions your own business previously claimed. Show what purchases are actually used for.

Where turnover is both taxable and exempt, the Belastingdienst distinguishes three cost types: exclusively taxable use, exclusively exempt use and mixed use. Make these groups identifiable in your records. An expense invoice bearing VAT does not by itself prove which part is deductible. Have the allocation method and available evidence assessed instead of dividing every amount using one general turnover percentage without analysis.

5. Look beyond this quarter's invoice

A change from taxable to exempt use can also affect earlier deductions on investments. Since 1 January 2026, the Belastingdienst describes a five-year adjustment period for certain investment services. These include work on immovable property costing at least €30,000 excluding VAT and providing benefits over several years. That threshold is not a general exemption limit, and not every maintenance bill automatically falls under the same regime.

Bring renovation contracts, completion details, the first-use date and original plans for use to your adviser. Ask separately whether your service falls within this arrangement and which period matters. An initial classification of current turnover is not a complete adjustment calculation. Keep other investments separate too: a building, a machine and a major renovation service do not require the same assessment in every respect.

6. Monitor returns and disputed invoices separately

Return obligations can exist even with exempt turnover, for example for certain foreign purchases. The Belastingdienst emphasises that a return you receive must be submitted. Therefore do not discontinue periodic obligations solely on the basis of your own new classification. Ask how registration and specific filing invitations should be handled and whether an occasional return is needed.

For a historical error, assess both the tax correction and your relationship with the customer. Who bears a possible VAT correction under the contract, and what was actually invoiced? Also have an additional assessment or decision received examined for the correct legal-remedy route. An amended commercial invoice or correspondence with your customer does not automatically replace a correction or a timely response to the Belastingdienst.

7. Fictional example: one practice, two types of service

A self-employed professional runs a practice and also performs work through an intermediary. She assumes everything is exempt because her profession appears in a healthcare category. Inspection reveals that her own treatment arrangements and the intermediary contract describe different responsibilities. All shared office costs have also been deducted in full as input VAT. This example is fictional and determines no exemption question.

The professional collects both contracts, a description of actual performance and the related invoices. The adviser assesses each assignment and then prepares a separate map of direct and shared costs. If correction appears necessary, the relevant period is identified before new documents are sent. This approach prevents one general professional description from silently determining both the turnover classification and the entire deduction calculation.

8. Checklist for advice on your VAT exemption

Frame the request precisely: does the exemption still need prospective assessment, is it disputed during an inspection, or has an assessment already been issued? Immediately report the date of any decision received. Ask whether further factual investigation is needed first or a procedural step cannot await completion of the substantive work.

Have the supplies, years and financial consequences covered by the assignment recorded. The accountant can prepare the records and cost allocation; in a dispute, a tax lawyer can assess the legal position, evidence and procedure. Make clear which question remains unresolved after the first advice. A confirmed appointment with an adviser is not approval of your exemption or historical returns.

• Contracts and actual performance for each assignment.
• The asserted exemption ground, KOR position or zero rate recorded separately.
• Representative sales and purchase invoices.
• Direct and mixed costs with the chosen allocation.
• Investments, first use and deductions previously claimed.
• Inspection letters or assessments with monitored follow-up steps.