Set up Dutch taxes in your Shopify store

This article will help you set taxes if your Shopify store is based in the Netherlands.

Caution

On January 1, 2025, new EU VAT regulations came into force. Among others, EU introduced a new Simplified VAT scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Under this new scheme, businesses with annual turnover below €100,000 across the EU may now qualify to be VAT-exempt. This is subject to national implementation of the EU legislation, so we recommend you consult your local tax authority.

We are currently updating this article to reflect the changes.

The most important difference when it comes to charging VAT in your store is whether your business is VAT-registered or not. We covered this topic in our Shopify VAT guide for selling to EU customers.

If your business is VAT-registered and you want to sell to both consumers (B2C) and business customers (B2B) in different countries of the European Union, you will need to set up your tax settings and tax rates properly.

In this article, we will discuss

Tax settings

To charge VAT to some customers and not to others, you may choose from two settings, depending on how you want to display product prices in your Shopify store.

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Display product prices including VAT

If you are selling predominantly to consumers (B2C), you may prefer to display product prices as including VAT.

To display your product prices including VAT, but still allow your business customers to have VAT deducted at checkout:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsTaxes and duties page.
  2. In the Global settings section, check the Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
  3. Click on Save to apply the changes.

Shopify taxes settings incl. VAT

Optionally, you can enable dynamic tax inclusion. This Shopify feature automatically includes or excludes the tax based on the customer's region and adjusts the tax rate accordingly.

To activate dynamic tax inclusion:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsMarkets and click on the market for which you want to set up tax collection.
  2. Click on Duties and taxes and in the Storefront and checkout pricing field, click on Edit.
  3. In the Domestic taxes field, select the Dynamic taxes option. Click on Done.
  4. Click on Save to apply the changes.

Shopify taxes dynamic tax inclusion settings

Display product prices excluding VAT

In case your customers are mostly businesses (B2B), you can choose to have your product prices displayed as excluding VAT.

To display your product prices excluding VAT:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsTaxes and duties page.
  2. In the Global settings section, uncheck the Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
  3. Click on Save to apply the changes.

Shopify taxes settings excl. VAT

Optionally, disable the dynamic tax inclusion:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsMarkets and click on the market for which you want to set up tax collection.
  2. Click on Duties and taxes and in the Storefront and checkout pricing field, click on Edit.
  3. In the Domestic taxes field, select the Don't add taxes option. Click on Done.
  4. Click on Save to apply the changes.

Shopify Disable dynamic taxes feature

Tax rates in the Netherlands and the EU

As of 2025, the general rate of VAT (BTW or Belasting toegevoegde waarde) in the Netherlands is 21%.

There is a reduced VAT rate of 9% that applies to products such as food and soft drinks, books, newspaper, some works of art, antiques, or transport charges.

In the EU, you need to charge different tax rates when selling physical and digital goods.

Selling physical goods to customers in the Netherlands

My business is exempt from VAT

In the Netherlands, when the your business’s turnover does not exceed €20,000 in a calendar year, you may participate in the small business scheme (KOR).

If you participate in the KOR scheme, you have a VAT exemption and do not charge VAT to your customers. You cannot include VAT on your invoices until you register your business for VAT.

You can read more about the KOR scheme on this page.

My business is VAT registered

If your business is based in the Netherlands and you do not participate in the KOR scheme, you must charge VAT to some customers and not others. It all depends on where your customers are located.

Selling physical goods in other EU countries

If you are selling goods B2B in other EU Member States, then these sales are zero-rated for VAT. This means that you put the VAT on your invoices, but you charge VAT at 0%. Under the reverse-charge mechanism rules, the customer will account for the VAT.

If you are selling goods B2C in other EU Member States, then you charge VAT. However, the rate of VAT depends on whether you surpass the “micro-business” threshold.

Selling within the “micro-business” threshold

Is your total revenue from sales from other EU countries less than €10,000 annually? If yes, you apply for a micro-business exemption and do not have to take any extra steps; you just include this revenue in your domestic VAT return.

When selling physical goods to customers in the European Union, simply charge your home country's VAT rate.

Then, you can set up your tax settings in your Shopify admin. This task only needs to be performed once.

To set VAT rates for the "micro-business" exemption scheme and charge your home country's VAT rates on all orders:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsTaxes and duties page.
  2. In the Regional settings section, click on European Union.
  3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click on Collect VAT.
  4. In the Collect across the EU window, select the Collect using your home country registration option.
  5. Select your Country of registration and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you have applied for a VAT registration number but don't have one yet. You can update it later when you receive it.
  6. Save your changes by clicking on the Collect VAT button.

Shopify EU VAT settings

Shopify EU VAT micro-business exemption

Surpassing the “micro-business” threshold

Do you ship your goods to consumers in different EU countries? If you store and dispatch your stock from your home country abroad, you need to charge the VAT rate of that country instead.

shopify-vat-eu-digital-goods.netherlands

The VAT rate you charge depends on the shipping address of your customer.

The good news is that from July 2021, you only need to submit a single EU VAT return in your home country.

As a B2C seller, you can use the EU One Stop Shop (OSS) VAT return, on which you declare all the VAT you collect from all the EU countries you sold to. Your domestic tax authority is then responsible for forwarding the collected taxes to the respective countries.

For example, if your business is based in the Netherlands, you apply the Dutch VAT rate of 21% applies to the orders from the Netherlands. For orders from different EU countries, you should charge the VAT rates applicable to the shipping destination country.

Shopify allows you to set these tax settings for individual VAT registrations and automatically charge the correct taxes to your EU customers.

For further information on selling goods between EU Member States, see the VAT guide for Shopify stores in the EU.

To set VAT rates for the OSS scheme and charge your customers' shipping country VAT rates on all orders:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsTaxes and duties page.
  2. In the Regional settings section, click on European Union.
  3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click on Collect VAT.
  4. In the Collect across the EU window, select the Collect using a One Stop Shop (OSS) registration option.
  5. Select your Country of OSS registration and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you have applied for a VAT registration number but don't have one yet. You can update it later when you receive it.
  6. Save your changes by clicking on the Collect VAT button.

Shopify EU VAT settings

Shopify EU VAT One Stop Shop registration

Country-specific registration

You also have the option to register for VAT in each EU country that you ship to. To add the local VAT registration number:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsTaxes and duties page.
  2. In the Regional settings section, click on European Union.
  3. In the Collect VAT in an EU country section, click on Collect in another location.
  4. Select the Registration country and enter your VAT number. If you have applied for a VAT registration number but don't have one yet, leave this field blank. You can update it later when you receive it.
  5. Save your changes by clicking on the Collect VAT button.
  6. To add the local VAT registration number for every country you are registered in click, on the Collect VAT in an EU country option and confirm the selection by clicking on the Collect VAT button.

If you are unable to select the additional country you are VAT-registered in, you may need to create a shipping zone first. To create a shipping zone:

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to the SettingsShipping and delivery page.
  2. In the Shipping section, click on the shipping profile that you want to add shipping zones to.
  3. In the Shipping zones section, click on Add shipping zone.
  4. Type in the name of the shipping zone, add the country (or countries) you are VAT-registered in using the search bar, and when finished, click on Done.
  5. To make this zone available, add the shipping rates.
  6. Click on Save to apply changes.

Selling digital goods

There are special rules for selling digital goods from the Netherlands to other EU countries. But first, it is critical to understand what exactly digital services are.

Digital goods or services include radio and television broadcasting services, telecommunication services, and electronically supplied services, such as online magazines, music, films, and games.

Even though a company uses the internet to facilitate trading, this does not always mean that they provide e-services. For example, the sale of goods where the order and processing are done electronically (such as through a Shopify store) is not a supply of digital services. This is regarded as a sale of goods and follows the usual VAT rules set out above.

The VAT rules when selling digital services

If you are making supplies of digital services from the Netherlands to customers in other EU countries, there is no registration threshold (such as the exemption for micro-businesses of €10,000).

Therefore, if you are selling to individuals or non-VAT registered businesses, you must submit the EU OSS VAT return or register for VAT in that country and charge its VAT rate to your customers there. The EU OSS scheme allows businesses to report the VAT due on services in their own country via a web portal.

If you are selling digital services to VAT-registered businesses, then they are responsible for any VAT due to the tax authorities in their country.

To learn more, please see this article to find out how to set up EU taxes for selling digital goods.

Get your free Shopify Tax Guide

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Invoices

Once you set your tax rates correctly in your store, Sufio will automatically create valid invoices with an exact breakdown of the charged VAT.

You can create invoices in the customer's local language and include all the necessary details to make them compliant with invoicing legislation in the EU.

Issuing invoices with the correct tax breakdown is crucial for your bookkeeping and tax purposes.

If you are selling to businesses (B2B), Sufio invoices include all the required information, as well as VAT registration number (BTW or Belasting toegevoegde waarde) of your online store and your business customers.

Last updated on March 19, 2025.