VAT revenue grows to 50 billion

On 1 January 2019, it was 50 years since VAT was introduced in the Netherlands. In 1969, the revenue from VAT amounted to 2.6 billion euro. In the meantime, this has risen to approximately 53 billion euro per year. After the payroll and income tax, VAT is the government's main source of income.

Rates changed several times

Over the years, there have been many developments in VAT revenue, often as a result of rate changes. Revenue rose fairly rapidly in the first few years, due to the sharp increase in rates. In 1969, when VAT was introduced, the low and high rates were 4 and 12 percent, and only 7 years later they were 6 and 20 percent. After this growth, the high rate was gradually reduced to 17.5% in 1992. However, in the 21st century the high rate was gradually increased again to 21 percent. The low rate, on the other hand, was constant at 6 percent between 1986 and 2018. As of 1 January 2019, the low rate was increased to 9 percent. Never before have VAT rates been as high as in 2019. On the other hand, the rates for the wage and income tax have been lowered.