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VATupdate Newsletter Week 14 2023

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VAT: Be gone with it!

That’s a slogan of a retail company of electronic products, here in the Netherlands (BTW: Weg ermee!). And I’m annoyed every time I hear it.

First of all, it’s misleading. Consumers think that they get a discount of 21%. That’s the standard VAT rate in the Netherlands. So it’s logical that consumers think that the price goes down with that percentage. Wrong! The discount given is the VAT amount that is included in the original sales price.

For example: the normal price of a TV is EUR 1,000. The consumer thinks that he will only have to pay EUR 790 (1,000 -/- 21%). But when he comes to the shop, the discounted price is EUR 826. A nice discount, but only 17.3%. And that is of course, because the VAT amount that is included in the original sales price is not 21%, but 21/121 ≈ 17,3%.

Secondly, it’s confusing. The retail shop is still charging VAT, as it can of course not decide to not charge VAT on its sales. Every supply is subject to VAT. The shop just charges VAT on a lower net price. But by using the slogan, the shop implies that the sales are without VAT.

And thirdly, and this is probably the most important reason for my annoyance: the slogan implies that VAT is bad. How can you say that about something that gives us so much fun? Probably, we, the editors of VATupdate, are strange persons to have VAT as a hobby and passion. But together with you, our readers and friends, we have the best jobs in the world. VAT enables us to investigate, understand and streamline business processes and transaction flows. And some of the cases before the courts make us giggle.

We would never stop you from buying a new TV, a pair of glasses or a bed. And if you do, make sure you compare brands, options and prices and profit of discounts. But please ignore the big signs denying VAT. You know VAT exists. Really, it does! 

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas that you want to share with us, please send us an email at [email protected] or leave a comment under the posts of this newsletter on LinkedIn.


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