Netherlands withdraws reduced VAT on repairs of housing

The Dutch Ministry of Finance is to recategorise the renovation or repair of housing from 1 July 2015 from the reduced Dutch VAT rate of 6% to the standard VAT rate of 21%.

This tax break, only available to building over 2 years old was introduced at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to help the construction industry cope with a collapse in house building and development. The Netherlands suffered once of the worst property value crashes in Europe, including a drop of over 60% in new house sales.

The reduced VAT concession on house painting & plastering will remain in place at 6%.