What is the VAT rate for renting premises for Ukrainian refugees?

Municipalities (gemeenten) rent various types of premises to accommodate Ukrainian refugees. First of all, these are premises that are rented by hotels, guest houses and travel agencies. Also, these are unfurnished premises, for example, offices or monasteries. And the third group is mobile housing. Each of these types of premises are subject to a different VAT (BTW) rate.

Hotel premises

Tax authorities сообщают: hotels, guest houses and travel companies that rent premises to municipalities in which they accommodate refugees from Ukraine can count on a reduced VAT rate of 9%.

The VAT rate of 9% is also applied in the case of renting premises for the reception of asylum seekers in the Netherlands (non-Ukrainians). Premises for this purpose are often rented not by municipalities, but by the Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers, COA) or the Ministry of Justice and Security (Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid, J&V). The stay of asylum-seekers in such places sometimes lasts for a relatively long time, but due to the nature of the stay, it is customary to consider it as a stay for a short period of time. By analogy, when municipalities host Ukrainian refugees, such a stay can also be considered as short-term. Accordingly, in this case, the VAT rate of 9% is applied.

Unfurnished premises

If the landlord is not a hotel, guest house or travel agency, then the rent may be freed from VAT at all. There is no discussion about the application of the regular (21%) or reduced (9%) VAT rate. This also applies to the lease of unfurnished real estate (for example, monasteries and office space) by municipalities to receive refugees from Ukraine.

Mobile homes and "wagons"

Mobile housing is treated as movable property for tax purposes. The rental of such movable property for the temporary reception of asylum seekers or refugees from Ukraine is subject to a general VAT rate of 21%. This VAT rate also applies to the rental of mobile homes and so-called wagons (accommodation containers).