Sometimes, self-employed (zzp) include invoices from the month for which they file the tax return (in this case, April). However, these have to be included in the next quarterly VAT return. In your administration, you keep track of how much VAT you have charged to your customers and how much VAT you have paid to your suppliers.
What VAT rate should you charge?
It is useful to know what VAT rate you should charge your customers. In most cases, you charge 21% VAT (the general rate). But sometimes, a different rate applies:
- 9% is the reduced VAT rate. This rate includes food, drink, art, and medicines.
- 0% rate. This rate often applies when you do business outside the Netherlands. You do not calculate VAT in this case, but you may deduct the VAT you pay on expenses.
- Some goods or services are exempt from VAT. You do not charge VAT on this, but the VAT you pay for these products is also not deductible.
What VAT may you deduct (input tax)?
As we wrote earlier, you may deduct VAT on business expenses in the VAT return. We call this deduction of input tax (in Dutch: voorbelasting). You can deduct VAT on purchases, costs, and investments. These are the conditions:
- The revenue must be taxed with 21%, 9%, or 0% VAT. So VAT on costs you incur on goods and services exempt from VAT is not deductible.
- You have to receive an invoice with VAT, and the goods are delivered to you.
For example, do you deliver products to the United States? Then you charge the 0% rate to the customer. You do not have to charge VAT, but you can deduct the VAT you paid on these expenses.
Be on time with the VAT return
The deadline for filing the VAT is no later than one month after the end of the quarter. Make sure you submitted and paid the VAT return for the 1st quarter before April 30, 2022. Are you late, or do you not submit a return at all? Then you can receive an additional assessment (including a fine). Even if you have no turnover for a period, you must submit the VAT return. In this case, you are ready in no time: you simply enter €0.
Keep track of your administration
You have to keep good records as a freelancer or entrepreneur. It also makes your VAT return a lot clearer. You can keep your administration in Excel, but there are also convenient accounting programs. To keep an overview, it may be wise to open a business bank account. This makes your administration a lot easier, and you can go through the VAT return more smoothly.
We are happy to help you!
Could you use some help with your VAT return? We are happy to take care of the quarterly return for you. Contact us using the details below.
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