According to the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, a freelance childcare worker may apply the VAT exemption for childcare to her services to childcare centres. The condition is that she works in a registered childcare centre, is in the personal register for childcare and is linked to that centre. The court gave that ruling on 13 October 2026.
On 1 November 2026, the Tax Administration still writes the opposite: pedagogical work by an entrepreneur for or in a childcare centre is subject to VAT. Whether the inspector appeals to the Supreme Court is not yet known. Until there is clarity, you choose between certainty and a possible saving.
In short
- The court ruled that the freelance childcare worker's services are childcare in a registered childcare centre, not the hiring out of labour. She meets the requirements of the Childcare Act by being registered in the personal register and linked to the centre.
- The Tax Administration maintains 21% VAT on its website. An appeal to the Supreme Court is open for six weeks after the ruling is sent. On 1 November 2026 it is not known whether the inspector has lodged one.
- Anyone who wants to keep the option open objects to their own return within six weeks of paying the VAT. Anyone who is exempt can no longer deduct VAT on their own costs.
Position on 1 November 2026. Whether the inspector appeals to the Supreme Court is not yet known. Before you act, check whether the Tax Administration has updated its page on the childcare exemption.
In this article
What exactly did the court decide?
The court decided that a freelance childcare worker can apply the childcare exemption to her services to childcare organisations. The VAT she had paid for the first quarter of 2022, € 2,149, was reduced to nil (Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, 13 October 2026, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6629). On the same day, the court gave the same ruling in a second case (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6630).
The exemption applies to childcare in a registered childcare centre, provided the other requirements of the Childcare Act are also met (VAT Act 1968, article 11(1)(w)). The court saw three reasons why the freelancer falls under it.
- Her work is that of a professional under the Childcare Act, and a professional can also be self-employed. The work takes place in a registered childcare centre. So it is childcare, not merely performing work (paragraph 4.6).
- She is in the personal register for childcare and is linked to the centre before she starts there. That way she meets the requirements the act sets for her (paragraph 4.7).
- The European VAT Directive gives countries room in recognising institutions of a social nature, including individuals. The Netherlands links that recognition to the requirements of the Childcare Act. Anyone who meets them is recognised (paragraph 4.9).
In the case, the freelancer worked through a platform and directly for childcare organisations, with a contract for services that according to its text was the same as a Tax Administration model agreement from 2021 (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6629, paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2). She sent her invoices to the childcare organisations, not to the parents.
What does the Tax Administration say now?
On 1 November 2026, the Tax Administration's website still says: if, as an entrepreneur, you perform pedagogical work for or in a childcare centre, these services are subject to VAT (Tax Administration, childcare exemption). So the page has not been updated after the ruling.
In the proceedings, the inspector argued that the exemption only applies to the holder of a registered childcare centre, and that the freelancer only provides labour (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6629, paragraph 3.3). An earlier court took the same view. The Gelderland District Court ruled on 10 October 2024 in a similar case that the service was making labour available, with the childcare centre as the customer (ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2024:6858).
Is the court's ruling already final?
Not yet. Both parties can appeal to the Supreme Court within six weeks of the date the ruling was sent, it says beneath the ruling (ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6629). The ruling was given on 13 October 2026 and published on 26 October 2026. On 1 November 2026 it is not known whether the inspector has lodged an appeal.
If there is an appeal, the Supreme Court decides. The Supreme Court can follow the court of appeal, or side with the Tax Administration. A ruling of a court of appeal does not bind other courts or the Tax Administration in other cases.
What does this mean for you as a freelance childcare worker?
You have two routes. The safe route is to keep charging 21% VAT, as the Tax Administration writes. If you want to keep open the option of getting the VAT back, you object to your own return. That is also what the freelancer in the court case did (paragraph 1.2).
The period for an objection is six weeks (General Administrative Law Act, article 6:7). For VAT you pay on a return, that period starts on the day after payment (General Tax Act, article 22j). For older quarters that period has often already expired.
Exemption also has a downside. Anyone who provides exempt services cannot deduct the VAT on the related costs. Deduction only applies to costs you use for taxable supplies (VAT Act 1968, article 15). If you still put VAT on your invoice, you owe that VAT, even if the service is actually exempt (article 37).
What does this mean for a childcare organisation?
For the organisation, the VAT on freelance invoices is a real cost. Childcare in a registered childcare centre is exempt from VAT (VAT Act 1968, article 11(1)(w)). As a result, you cannot deduct the VAT a freelancer charges you (article 15).
An example with invented amounts. A freelancer works for you for a month for € 3,000. With 21% VAT you pay € 3,630. If the exemption applies, you pay € 3,000. Over a year with several freelancers, that difference quickly adds up.
Agree in the contract what happens if the exemption later turns out to apply for good. If the freelancer gets VAT back on invoices you have already paid, you want that amount back as well. That requires a credit note and a new invoice without VAT.
The ruling concerns the freelancer's own invoices to the childcare centre. The ruling says nothing about employment agencies, secondment firms or platforms that invoice the childcare centre themselves. What changes when hiring freelancers in general is covered in a separate article (DBA Act and false self-employment).
Does a freelancer fit the rules on familiar faces?
Only if the same freelancer works on the group regularly. Every child must have at least one familiar, trusted face on the group (Government of the Netherlands, childcare quality requirements). A familiar face is a childcare worker who always works when the child is present (Ondernemersplein, familiar faces criterion).
There is a reason for that. A meta-analysis of 40 studies with 2,867 children found that the carer's sensitivity towards the group is a reliable predictor of a secure bond between child and carer, especially in childcare centres (Ahnert, Pinquart & Lamb, 2006). Many changing staff make that bond harder. Freelancers are therefore mainly a solution for peaks and sickness, not for core staffing.
You can calculate what permanent staff cost under the collective agreement on the page about the childcare agreement (childcare collective agreement). Compare that with the cost of freelancers with and without VAT.
Sources
- Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, 13 October 2026, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6629 (in Dutch). uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
- Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, 13 October 2026, ECLI:NL:GHARL:2026:6630 (in Dutch). uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
- Gelderland District Court, 10 October 2024, ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2024:6858 (in Dutch). uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
- Tax Administration, Childcare exemption, read 1 November 2026 (in Dutch). belastingdienst.nl
- Turnover Tax Act 1968, articles 11, 15 and 37, in force from 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
- Childcare Act, articles 1.48d and 1.50, in force from 1 August 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
- General Administrative Law Act, article 6:7, and General Tax Act, article 22j. wetten.overheid.nl
- Government of the Netherlands, Quality requirements for childcare and playgroups, and Ondernemersplein, Familiar faces criterion, read 1 November 2026 (in Dutch). rijksoverheid.nl
- Ahnert, L., Pinquart, M. & Lamb, M. E. (2006). Security of children's relationships with nonparental care providers: a meta-analysis. Child Development, 77(3), 664-679. doi.org