Home Foreign businesses Events, conferences and trade fairs in the Netherlands
Events, conferences and trade fairs in the Netherlands
Admission to an event in the Netherlands is taxed in the Netherlands, also when the organiser is based abroad. Whether you need a Dutch VAT number depends on who buys the tickets.
Dutch VAT for your event, arranged
Registration with everything included, then a fixed fee per quarter for your return.
Where admission is taxed
Admission to conferences, seminars, trade fairs, exhibitions, concerts, sports and similar events is taxed where the event takes place, both for business guests and for private guests (Articles 6d and 6e of the Dutch VAT Act). For an event in the Netherlands that means Dutch VAT.
Online events are different. Access to a webinar, livestream or online conference is taxed where the business customer is established, or for private customers where they live.
Who pays the Dutch VAT on tickets
- Tickets sold to businesses or legal entities established in the Netherlands: the VAT is reverse-charged to the customer. You invoice without Dutch VAT
- Tickets sold to private persons, or to businesses from other countries: you charge Dutch VAT yourself, and you register in the Netherlands
In practice almost every foreign organiser of a physical event in the Netherlands needs a Dutch VAT number, because some guests are private persons or come from abroad.
Rates
Admission to concerts, theatre performances, museums and similar is taxed at 9%. Conferences, seminars and trade fairs are taxed at 21%. Stand space for exhibitors is not admission: with the related services it falls under the general rule for business services, so it is taxed where the exhibitor is established.
Example
A company in the United Kingdom organises a two-day conference in Amsterdam and sells 200 tickets of € 500 (excl. VAT):
- 120 tickets to Dutch businesses, € 60,000: reverse-charged, the customers report the € 12,600 VAT themselves
- 80 tickets to businesses from other countries and to private persons, € 40,000: 21% Dutch VAT, € 8,400, charged by the organiser
- Venue hire of € 15,000 with € 3,150 Dutch VAT, deducted in the organiser's Dutch return
- Dutch VAT return: € 8,400 due, € 3,150 deductible, € 5,250 to pay
This is a worked example at the 21% rate, not a client case.
What we do
We sort your ticket sales by type of customer, register your company for Dutch VAT (€ 275, everything included) and file the returns for the quarters around the event (€ 100 per month for all your Dutch VAT returns, € 150 with the OSS return).
Frequently asked questions
Does a foreign event organiser charge Dutch VAT on tickets?
On tickets for an event in the Netherlands sold to private persons and to businesses that are not established in the Netherlands, yes. Tickets sold to Dutch businesses are reverse-charged.
Is a webinar taxed in the Netherlands?
Only if the customer is established in the Netherlands or, for a private customer, lives here. Online events are taxed where the customer is, not where the organiser is.
Is stand space at a Dutch trade fair taxed in the Netherlands?
Stand space with related services is taxed where the exhibitor is established. A foreign exhibitor therefore usually pays no Dutch VAT on it; Dutch VAT on other costs, such as hotels, can be reclaimed.
Organising an event in the Netherlands? Tell us who your guests are.
Tell us briefly what is going on. Within one working day you hear what we can do for you and what it costs, before we start.
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