When you charge 0% VAT and write 'VAT reverse-charged' on an invoice, what the invoice must show, where it goes in your Dutch VAT return, and how reverse charge works on costs you buy abroad.
Normally you add VAT to your invoice, your client pays it to you, and you pay it to the tax authority. With reverse charge (in Dutch: btw verlegd, 'VAT shifted'), that obligation moves to your client. You send an invoice without VAT, and your client declares the VAT in their own country's return. A business client can usually deduct that VAT straight away, so for them it is often a zero-sum entry. Nothing is lost: the VAT is simply paid where the service is used. This guide covers the common situations for Dutch freelancers and small businesses. VAT has many exceptions, so check your own case with the Belastingdienst or an accountant.
The most common case: you sell a service, such as design, development, consulting, marketing or translation, to a business in another EU country that has a valid VAT ID. Under the EU's general rule, a business-to-business service is taxed in the client's country, and the client applies the reverse charge. Before you invoice without VAT, check your client's VAT ID in the EU's VIES database and keep a screenshot or the confirmation. If the number is not valid, or the client is a private person, the reverse charge does not apply and you usually charge Dutch VAT.
Reverse charge is not a choice and not a discount. You do not use it for clients in the Netherlands (with a few exceptions below), for private individuals in other EU countries, or for clients without a valid VAT ID. Some services also follow their own rules regardless of who the client is, for example services related to property, admission to events, passenger transport and restaurant services; these are usually taxed where they take place. Clients outside the EU are a separate case: business-to-business services to them are usually not subject to Dutch VAT at all, but that is not an EU reverse charge, so do not write 'btw verlegd' and do not report it in the ICP declaration. Mention instead that the service is not subject to Dutch VAT.
A reverse-charge invoice contains everything a normal invoice needs, plus three things: the words 'VAT reverse-charged' (or 'btw verlegd', or 'Reverse charge'; any EU language is fine), your client's VAT ID next to your own, and a VAT amount of zero. Show the net amount as the total. A short example of the note: 'VAT reverse-charged (Art. 196 Council Directive 2006/112/EC). Client VAT ID: DE123456789.' For services to another EU country, send the invoice no later than the 15th day of the month after the month in which you did the work. In FaturaPro, set the VAT for that invoice to 0% and put the reverse-charge text and your client's VAT ID in the invoice notes; your own VAT ID comes from your business details.
Report the amount, without VAT, in box 3b of your Dutch VAT return ('Supplies to or services in countries within the EU'). You also file the ICP declaration (opgaaf intracommunautaire prestaties), which lists per client VAT ID how much you invoiced with reverse charge. Most freelancers file it every quarter, with the same deadline as the VAT return. The tax authorities compare your ICP declaration with your clients' returns, so make sure the VAT IDs and amounts match your invoices.
Reverse charge also applies when you are the client. Many tools freelancers use are invoiced from other EU countries with VAT reverse-charged, for example online advertising or software subscriptions billed from Ireland. Give those suppliers your VAT ID so they invoice without VAT. You then declare the Dutch VAT on that cost yourself in box 4b, and, if you can fully deduct VAT, deduct the same amount in box 5b. The result is usually zero, but the entries must be there. For services bought from outside the EU, the same works through box 4a. If you use the small business scheme (KOR), check with the Belastingdienst how this applies to you, as you may still owe reverse-charged VAT on services you buy abroad.
There is also a domestic reverse charge for specific sectors, such as subcontracting in construction, the supply of certain staff, and some goods like scrap metal and, above a threshold, mobile phones and computer chips. Most freelancers in creative, IT or consulting work never use it. If you work in one of these sectors, ask your accountant which rules apply.
On the invoice both show no VAT, but they are different. With 0% (for example on an intra-EU supply of goods or an export) no VAT is due. With reverse charge, VAT is due, but your client declares and pays it instead of you.
Yes. The note can be in any EU language. 'VAT reverse-charged', 'Reverse charge' and 'btw verlegd' are all fine.
Then the reverse charge usually does not apply and you charge Dutch VAT. Always check the number in VIES before you invoice, and keep proof of the check.
Yes, if you invoiced services or goods with reverse charge or 0% to businesses in other EU countries in that period.
There is no separate switch. Set the VAT on the invoice to 0% and add the reverse-charge note and your client's VAT ID in the invoice notes.
Use the official guidance for the rules or technical profile that applies to your transaction.