Paint is taxed at 9% VAT too: what is 9% and what stays 21% in painting work?

Painting work on a home that has been in use for more than two years falls under the reduced VAT rate of 9%. That applies not only to your labour, but also to the materials you use for the painting. So the paint, the primer and the filler go along at 9%. The same applies to plastering and wallpapering.

Some work does remain at 21%. Think of fitting new wood, glazing, replacing frames and the wallpaper itself. Work on a business building or on a home younger than two years is always 21%.

In this article

1. Is the paint taxed at 9% or 21% VAT?
2. What counts as a home for the 9% rate?
3. How does the two-year rule work?
4. Which preparatory work also falls under 9%?
5. Which work stays at 21% VAT?
6. How do you show 9% and 21% on one invoice?
7. Does 9% also apply when a business or housing association places the order?
8. Does your customer notice the difference between 9% and 21%?

Is the paint taxed at 9% or 21% VAT?

At 9%, if you use it to paint a home older than two years. The decree in which the State Secretary for Finance explains how table I works says it in one sentence: the materials used in painting and plastering fall under the reduced rate (Decree on table I, Government Gazette 2025, 39463, part 6).

The Belastingdienst says the same. The 9% rate for painting also covers the materials used, preparing the work, pre-treatments and lacquering, varnishing and staining (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for painting). So never put paint on the invoice as a separate line at 21%.

The law itself lists the painting and plastering of homes more than two years after first use (VAT Act 1968, table I, item b 8). Insulation is different. There only the labour falls under 9% and the insulation material is 21% (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for insulating homes). So that rule for insulation does not apply to paint.

What counts as a home for the 9% rate?

A building or part of one that is intended for permanent occupation by private individuals. It does not matter whether the occupant owns or rents it, and a home that is temporarily empty remains a home (Decree on table I, item b 8, part 2.1).

Garages, sheds, conservatories and extensions belong to the home if they are on the same plot. The garden is included too. Painting a garden gate on the plot of the home therefore falls under 9%. The same applies to a car park under a block of flats where private individuals live (Decree on table I, part 2.1).

Not a home are, among others, business buildings, separate garage boxes, holiday homes where you may not live permanently, hotels and hospitals. A houseboat or mobile home that is permanently moored or placed, connected to utilities and intended for permanent occupation does count as a home (Decree on table I, part 2.1).

For a building with a home and a business, such as a shop with a flat above, 9% only applies to the residential part. Since 1 July 2025 that applies to all mixed buildings (Decree on table I, part 2.2). So you paint the shop's frames at 21% and those of the flat above at 9%.

The stairwell, hall, lift and gallery of an apartment building follow the homes and therefore go at 9%. If there is also a business in the building, you divide those spaces between the part for living and the part for other purposes (Decree on table I, part 2.3). The decree does not prescribe how to make that division. If in doubt, check with the Belastingdienst.

How does the two-year rule work?

The home must be older than two years, counted from the moment it was first actually taken into use as a home. You look at the day on which you do the work (Decree on table I, part 3). If you paint a new-build home after eighteen months, that is 21%. If you do the same work a year later, it is 9%.

If a building used to be something else, what counts is the moment it was first used as a home. The decree gives the example of an old warehouse converted into apartments. If a building is turned into a home in stages, at least half must consist of parts older than two years (Decree on table I, part 3).

The Belastingdienst checks the age using, among other things, the BAG, the Dutch register of addresses and buildings, and the personal records database. You may have your client sign a statement that the home is older than two years (Decree on table I, part 3). You may, you do not have to. Put the address and the date on it and keep a copy with the job. If in doubt, look up the address yourself in the BAG via the Land Registry (Belastingdienst, homes older than 2 years).

Which preparatory work also falls under 9%?

All preparatory work that belongs directly to the painting. The decree lists cleaning, degreasing, burning off, stripping and sanding, planing windows and doors because of the paint layer, and masking and covering the room (Decree on table I, part 4.2).

Repairing wood rot with epoxy or filler is also included. The decree calls that preventive maintenance: repairing the surface with material of a different kind from the original, such as epoxy-based wood rot filler (Decree on table I, part 4.2). If you rout out rot, fill it with epoxy and then paint in the same job, that is therefore 9%.

Sealant work that is part of the paint system also falls under 9%. This means sealing open joints in the surface and replacing or repairing the sealant joint between the glass and the frame. Blasting counts if you only remove old paint and then paint within the same order (Decree on table I, part 4.2).

If you spray kitchens or internal doors of a home in your own workshop, that remains 9%, provided the home is older than two years (Decree on table I, part 4.3). A poured or coated floor using a paint product and flakes within a paint system on stairs and floors also fall under 9% (Decree on table I, part 4.1).

In plastering, decorative plaster and spray plaster also fall under 9% (Decree on table I, part 5.3). In wallpapering, the hanging itself, the preparation and the glue go at 9%. The supply of the wallpaper is 21% (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for wallpapering).

Which work stays at 21% VAT?

Work that is too far removed from the actual painting. The decree lists repair with new, replacement parts, such as wooden inserts in frames and replacing sills. Replacing windows, doors and frames, sealant work as a structural task, large-scale concrete repair and glazing with glazing beads and sealant are also 21% (Decree on table I, part 4.4).

The same list includes blast-cleaning facades, impregnating or injecting stone, metal and concrete surfaces and only repairing joints. The Belastingdienst also lists damp-proofing cellars and wrap foil on, for example, kitchen doors (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for painting). Fitting plasterboard walls, tiling and laying floors are also 21% (Decree on table I, part 5.4).

The difference between 9% and 21% for wood rot therefore lies in the material. If you fill with epoxy or filler, it is 9%. If you fit a new piece of wood, that part is 21% (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for painting). Split the two on the quote and the invoice.

If you fit insulating glass to make the home more energy efficient, the labour goes at 9% and the glass itself at 21%. Replacing a frame is not included (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for insulating homes). If you only sell paint, without painting with it, that is not in the 9% table and it is 21%.

How do you show 9% and 21% on one invoice?

With a separate line for each rate. If the painting is part of a larger job, you split the work at 21% and the work at 9% in the quote and the invoice (Belastingdienst, work on homes). The invoice shows the applicable rate for each line (Belastingdienst, invoice requirements).

If you agreed one price for work at two rates, you divide that price on the basis of the usual prices of the parts. If a division by cost gives a better picture, that is also allowed, provided you can show it in your records (Belastingdienst, combination of goods and services).

If you accidentally charged 21% on paint for work on an older home, your customer paid too much. Then send a new invoice that amends the old one. If you charged too little, you pay the difference yourself. An error of more than € 1,000 in VAT is reported as soon as possible and in any case within 8 weeks with the correction form (Belastingdienst, correcting a VAT return).

Does 9% also apply when a business or housing association places the order?

Yes. For the reduced rate the client does not have to be a private individual. If a housing association places an order to paint private homes, 9% also applies (Decree on table I, part 8). What matters is the type of building, not who pays the invoice.

You also do not have to be a painting company. Contractors and handyman firms that do painting, plastering or wallpapering may also apply the reduced rate (Decree on table I, part 8). If you work as a subcontractor, the rate remains 9% in the relationship with the main contractor (Decree on table I, part 9). How you invoice then depends on the reverse charge scheme.

Does your customer notice the difference between 9% and 21%?

Yes, because a private customer cannot reclaim the VAT. On € 1,000 of painting work the difference is € 120. So if you wrongly charge 21% on the paint, you are more expensive than necessary, and if you wrongly charge 9% on new wood, you pay the difference yourself.

Research shows that a lower VAT rate on labour-intensive services ends up in the price. Dutch researchers looked at hairdressers, when the rate fell from 17.5% to 6% in January 2000. They found that the cut was passed on almost entirely in lower prices, with no measurable effect on sales volume or on employment (Jongen, Lejour & Massenz, 2018).

That research was about hairdressers, not painters. It does show that customers see a VAT difference reflected in the price. So in your quote for a private customer, state clearly which part is 9% and which part 21%, so the customer can follow the total price.

Sources

• VAT Act 1968 (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968), table I, item b 8, in force from 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• State Secretary for Finance, Decree on VAT explaining table I (Besluit omzetbelasting toelichting tabel I), 22 December 2025, no. 2025-30110, Government Gazette 2025, 39463, item b 8. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for painting, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Homes older than 2 years, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for work on homes, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for wallpapering, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for insulating homes, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Combination of goods and/or services, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Invoice requirements, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Correcting a VAT return, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Jongen, E., Lejour, A. & Massenz, G. (2018). Cheaper and More Haircuts After VAT Cut? Evidence from the Netherlands. De Economist, 166(2), 135-154. doi.org