Reverse charging VAT as a subcontracted painter: how do 9% and 21% work?

If you paint as a subcontractor for a contractor, a renovation company or another painting firm, you reverse charge the VAT. You do not charge VAT yourself, but put "VAT reverse charged" and your client's VAT number on the invoice. Your client declares the VAT on your work.

That does not make the rate disappear. Painting work on a home older than two years remains 9%, also in the chain. So on the invoice you show the 9% part and the 21% part separately. If you work for a housing association or do the work mainly in your own workshop, other rules apply.

In this article

1. When do you reverse charge VAT as a painter?
2. Does the 9% rate still apply when you reverse charge?
3. What does a reverse charged invoice with 9% and 21% look like?
4. Working for a housing association: reverse charge or charge VAT?
5. Do you reverse charge for spraying in your own workshop?
6. What if you hire a colleague yourself?
7. What happens if you wrongly reverse charge?

When do you reverse charge VAT as a painter?

If you do physical work on a building for a contractor. The VAT Implementing Decree defines a subcontractor as someone who, outside employment, carries out work on immovable property for a contractor. The VAT is then reverse charged and you put "VAT reverse charged" on the invoice (VAT Implementing Decree 1968, article 24b).

The Belastingdienst lists building, demolishing, installing, maintaining, repairing and cleaning as work to which the scheme applies (Belastingdienst, reverse charge for subcontracting). Painting frames, facades and walls is maintenance of a building. A renovation for a construction firm or exterior painting for a large painting firm therefore falls under it.

If you work directly for the owner, such as a private customer, an owners' association or a business having its own building painted, you are not a subcontractor and you simply charge VAT. The law makes an exception to the normal rule for cases designated by the government, to better secure the collection of VAT (VAT Act 1968, article 12(5)). Subcontracting in construction is such a case.

That reverse charging counters fraud has also been measured. European research found that the reverse charge for trade between businesses reduced a certain type of VAT fraud involving cross-border supplies. For 2003 to 2019 the researchers estimated the gain at 7.5 to 7.7 billion euros (Stiller & Heinemann, 2024). It concerned trade in goods, not construction, but it shows why the legislator chooses reverse charging.

Does the 9% rate still apply when you reverse charge?

Yes. Painting, plastering and wallpapering done as a subcontractor fall under the reduced rate, both between the main contractor and the client and between the main contractor and the subcontractor (Decree on table I, Government Gazette 2025, 39463, item b 8, part 9). The rate depends on the work and the home, not on who your client is.

Paint and other materials you use for the painting also go at 9% (Decree on table I, part 6). Fitting new wood, glazing or replacing frames remains 21% (Decree on table I, part 4.4). If you do both kinds of work in one order, you have a 9% part and a 21% part.

The main contractor must also make that split. If the painting is part of a larger construction job, he splits the work at 21% and the work at 9% in his quote and invoice (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for work on homes). Your invoice helps him do that.

What does a reverse charged invoice with 9% and 21% look like?

You do not charge VAT, but state "VAT reverse charged" and your client's VAT identification number. You show the amount per VAT rate on the invoice (Belastingdienst, using the reverse charge scheme). So you get a line for the 9% part and a line for the 21% part, without a VAT amount.

Why must the rate be shown if you do not charge VAT? Your client declares the VAT and needs to know at which rate. The normal invoice requirements still apply, such as your own VAT number, an invoice number and a description of the work. State the address and whether it is a home, so the 9% rate can be followed.

Working for a housing association: reverse charge or charge VAT?

Usually you simply charge VAT, because a housing association that gives you a direct order is your customer and not a contractor. For homes older than two years that is 9%. The reduced rate also applies when a housing association orders private homes to be painted (Decree on table I, part 8).

There is one exception: the housing association is an own builder. An own builder is a business that, without a client, carries out work on immovable property in its normal course of business. The Belastingdienst gives the example of a housing association with its own maintenance staff that also outsources that work. Such an own builder counts as a contractor, and then you reverse charge the VAT to it (Belastingdienst, division of roles in subcontracting).

Whether a housing association is an own builder is assessed by the Belastingdienst case by case. You can ask your client for a copy of its own-builder statement. The Belastingdienst issues that statement to own builders who request it (Belastingdienst, division of roles in subcontracting). Only reverse charge if you have that copy, and keep it with the order.

A public body is often not a business for VAT and then cannot be an own builder either. If a public body still asks you to reverse charge, the Belastingdienst advises asking for the own-builder statement there too (Belastingdienst, division of roles in subcontracting).

Do you reverse charge for spraying in your own workshop?

No, if you do more than half of the work in your own workshop. Then you cannot reverse charge the VAT and you charge VAT to your client (Belastingdienst, exceptions for subcontracting). The law puts it this way: the scheme does not apply if the work is wholly or largely carried out at the place where your business is established (VAT Implementing Decree 1968, article 24b(7)).

The rate can remain 9%, though. Spraying kitchens and internal doors of a home older than two years falls under the reduced rate, even if you do it in your workshop rather than in the home (Decree on table I, part 4.3). So if you spray the doors of an older home in your workshop for a contractor, you charge him 9% VAT yourself.

Keep track per order of how many hours you work in the workshop and how many on site. If you then rehang the doors yourself and touch them up on site, the balance can shift. Your timesheet shows which side of half you are on.

What if you hire a colleague yourself?

Then you are the contractor towards that colleague and he reverse charges the VAT to you. The law says that a subcontractor counts as a contractor towards his own subcontractor (VAT Implementing Decree 1968, article 24b(2)). So you can be a subcontractor and a main contractor at the same time.

In your VAT return you enter the VAT your colleague reverse charges to you as VAT payable and deduct it as input tax. Then you reverse charge the VAT on the whole job to your client yourself (Belastingdienst, division of roles in subcontracting). On balance you therefore pay nothing on your colleague's work, as long as you report everything correctly.

What happens if you wrongly reverse charge?

Then you remain responsible for the VAT yourself. In subcontracting the subcontractor remains responsible for the reverse charged VAT (Belastingdienst, reverse charge for subcontracting). If you reverse charge on an order for a housing association without an own-builder statement, the Belastingdienst can collect the VAT from you.

Correct an error yourself. If it concerns more than € 1,000 of VAT, send the correction form as soon as possible and in any case within 8 weeks after you discovered the error. If you do not send it or send it too late, you can receive a penalty for a serious offence (Belastingdienst, correcting a VAT return).

If you disagree with your main contractor or doubt whether reverse charging is right, contact the tax office responsible for the main contractor (Belastingdienst, exceptions for subcontracting). If an own builder is involved, it is the own builder's tax office (Belastingdienst, division of roles in subcontracting).

Sources

• VAT Act 1968 (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968), article 12, in force from 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• VAT Implementing Decree 1968 (Uitvoeringsbesluit omzetbelasting 1968), article 24b, 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, Reverse charge for subcontracting and hiring out staff, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Exceptions for subcontracting and hiring out staff, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Division of roles in subcontracting and hiring out staff, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, You use the reverse charge scheme (invoice requirements), accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for work on homes, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Correcting a VAT return, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Stiller, W. & Heinemann, M. (2024). Do more harm than good? The optional reverse charge mechanism against cross-border tax fraud. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 95, 61-84. doi.org