VAT (btw) on restaurant bills in the Netherlands

Before you read

This guide is general information, not tax advice. Each rule links to the Belastingdienst page it comes from, with the day we read it. Check your own menu and situation with your accountant (boekhouder) before you change your prices.

Food and soft drinks: 9%

The Belastingdienst says food and non-alcoholic drink in hospitality businesses (horeca) falls under the 9% rate, and so do takeaway meals.^[1] Unlike some countries, the Netherlands does not tax a meal eaten in differently from the same meal taken away: both are 9%.

That covers the bulk of most menus: starters, mains and desserts, coffee and tea, juices and soft drinks.

Alcohol: 21%

Alcoholic drinks fall under the 21% rate — beer with more than 0.5% alcohol and other drinks with more than 1.2% alcohol — and the same rates apply in hospitality, also when an all-in price is charged for food and drink.^[2]

Two practical consequences:

• An alcohol-free beer (0.5% or less) or another drink with 1.2% alcohol or less is a 9% item, even though it sits on the drinks list next to the 21% ones.
• An all-in price — a set dinner with wine, an all-you-can-drink arrangement, a party package — does not get one rate. The food and soft-drink part carries 9% and the alcohol part 21%, so you need to know how the price divides between them.

Mixed drinks

A cocktail or a long drink mixes a 21% drink with a 9% one. The rule is strict: a mixed drink may be charged as its separate drinks (21% on the alcoholic part, 9% on the non-alcoholic part) only if those drinks are also sold unmixed and the mixed drink's price equals the sum of their prices; otherwise 21% applies to the whole drink, unless it contains 1.2% alcohol or less.^[3]

For most bars the simple, safe choice is 21% on the whole cocktail. If you want to split, check with your accountant that your menu meets both conditions.

Small businesses: the KOR

Very small businesses can use the small businesses scheme (kleineondernemersregeling). For a turnover of no more than €20,000 a calendar year, a participating business may not charge VAT to its customers.^[4] Most restaurants are well above that turnover, but a food stall or a small side business might not be. A business in the KOR prints bills without VAT.

Prices include VAT

When menu prices include VAT, the bill works backwards from them. On a dish priced €21.80 at 9%, the VAT inside it is €1.80; on a €12.10 glass of wine at 21%, it is €2.10. A bill with both rates shows each rate with its own amount, so a guest — or the Belastingdienst — can see the split.

A worked bill

A table orders two mains at €21.80, two soft drinks at €3.27 and a bottle of wine at €36.30, all prices including VAT:

• food and soft drinks: €50.14, of which 9% VAT €4.14;
• wine: €36.30, of which 21% VAT €6.30;
• total €86.44, of which VAT €10.44.

The guest pays the menu prices; the bill shows the two rates.

Setting it up in BillDine

What BillDine does for a restaurant in the Netherlands today:

• Both rates ready. In quick start, tick that your business is registered for VAT, type your VAT number and keep the usual rates ticked: BillDine adds VAT 9% and VAT 21%. Later they are under Settings → Billing rules → Taxes → Ready-made taxes.
• Prices include VAT. A new outlet in the Netherlands includes tax in menu prices, and each bill shows the VAT per rate.
• A rate per dish. Give your drinks with alcohol the 21% group in Menu, and leave food and soft drinks on 9%. An alcohol-free beer stays on 9%.
• Bills in Dutch. Each outlet chooses the language its bills print in; a Dutch bill prints your Btw-nummer. Words you typed yourself stay as you wrote them. See printing.
• Rounding for cash. A new outlet in the Netherlands rounds cash payments to 0.05, while a card pays the exact total; the rounding shows as its own line and VAT is never rounded away.
• In the KOR? Choose Not registered for VAT in Business details: no VAT is charged and bills are titled "Bill".
• For your return. The tax report shows VAT by rate for any period, and exports as CSV or PDF for your accountant. See reports.

The lesson Add your menu shows where each dish's tax group is set.

A short checklist

1. Put food, soft drinks and low-alcohol drinks on 9%.
2. Put beer over 0.5% and other drinks over 1.2% alcohol on 21%.
3. Price cocktails at 21% unless your accountant confirms you can split them.
4. Work out how each all-in price divides between food and alcohol.
5. Check whether the KOR applies to you.
6. Print a test bill with both rates and read it.