VAT declaration: how does it work?

If you’re a self-employed professional and have a VAT ID, you must submit a VAT return four times a year. The only exception is if you’re using the Small Business Scheme (KOR). In that case, you don’t charge VAT on your invoices and you’re not required to file a VAT return.

Be aware that even during periods that you haven’t worked, but did have an active VAT ID, you still have to submit a VAT return. You declare 0 income in that case. But since you haven’t earned any income through your Temper account, we unfortunately can’t assist you with the 0 return.

Know how much you’ve earned

1. Go to your financial overview.
2. Go to “turnover tax” and find an overview per quarter of what you have earned and spend.
3. Now gather your own administration and verify the data. It’s important to check this, you are responsible for your VAT return. Read exactly how to determine your income and expenses here.
4. Everything correct? You can start declaring your VAT. Indicate whether you have worked only via Temper or also done other freelance work.

Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk

In Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, the online tax portal of the Belastingdienst (Tax Administration), you submit your VAT return using the information you collected earlier. This website is currently available only in Dutch. Our tip: use Google Translate plug-in to translate the whole site.

Step 1

1. At the introduction ‘Hebt u dit tijdvak iets aan te geven? (Do you have anything to declare during this period?)’ you fill in: ‘ja (yes)’. If you haven’t worked in the last quarter as a freelancer, you fill in ‘nee (no)’.
2. Fill in the first name and family name of the contact person for this tax return. This could be your accountant. If you don’t have an accountant, fill in your own name. (Never fill in Temper)

Step 2

Go to column 1: ‘Prestaties Binnenland (Performance in the Netherlands)’. At question 1a you should fill in the revenue and VAT (of the revenue) you have calculated. This means the total you received excluding VAT and the VAT you received. If you worked for a client where the VAT was reverse charged, report that income under section 1e of your VAT return.

You can leave the other fields empty if they aren’t applicable to you.

Step 3

Column 'Buitenland' (Abroad) is often not applicable to you if you only worked as a freelancer via our platform. In that case, you can leave the fields empty and continue by clicking on 'akkoord'.

Step 4

The last step is column 5: 'Voorbelasting' (Input tax).

1. Question 5a is automatically filled in based on your answers in column 1.
2. At question 5b ‘voorbelasting' (input tax) you should fill in the amount you calculated on the basis of your calculation and other costs for your business. Input tax is the amount of VAT you paid over your costs. The amount you see in your financial overview is the VAT you have paid on the factoring costs and substitution costs. Have you also had other expenses for your business? Calculate or check the VAT on these and add it to the input tax already calculated.

Step 5

Check if your overview with all the amounts is correct. Then save and sign via 'opslaan en naar ondertekenen'. Fulfil your declaration by following the steps on the website of the government.

Great job! You’ve now submitted your VAT return. The Belastingdienst will immediately inform you how much you owe.

Can't figure it out, or is your VAT return a bit on the difficult side? We recommend hiring an accountant.