Two questions that keep getting mixed up
Registering with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) gets you a VAT identification number, and with it come two questions that are constantly confused. The first: do I opt into the small business scheme (kleineondernemersregeling, KOR) or do I simply charge VAT. The second: which rate actually applies to which treatment.
The second one is the nastier of the two, because the answer circulating online is wrong. You will read everywhere that services are 9 percent and products are 21. That shortcut costs money. A haircut does sit at 9 percent, but a beauty treatment, make-up and manicure or pedicure work are placed at 21 percent by the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), even when they happen in the same salon in the same chair. Run a place where people get both a cut and a wax and you have two rates going through one till.
This guide handles both questions. First the rate per treatment, because that decides how much VAT is in play at all. Then the KOR: what it is, where the threshold sits, how you opt in and out, and the worked example that shows when joining costs you money.
Which VAT rate applies to which treatment
The Belastingdienst publishes a dedicated page for this, Btw-tarief diensten van kappers, and it is more precise than the rule of thumb you find on entrepreneur forums. The dividing line does not run between services and products, it runs between hairdressing services and everything else.
| 9 percent: hairdressing services | 21 percent: general rate |
|---|---|
| Cutting | Beauty treatments |
| Washing and blow drying | Applying make-up |
| Colouring, highlights and perming | Colour and make-up advice |
| Shaving and beard trimming | Manicure and pedicure work |
| Products consumed during the treatment | Sunbed rental |
| Fitting hair extensions and wigs | Hair care and consumer products sold separately |
| Animal grooming |
Source: belastingdienst.nl, page Btw-tarief diensten van kappers, checked September 2026.
Note the difference between consuming and selling. The shampoo you use while washing is part of the treatment and goes at 9 percent. The same bottle taken home by the client is a sale at 21 percent. The same logic applies to the oil used in a facial, except that the facial itself already sits at 21 percent.
For a nail stylist, pedicure or beautician the conclusion is simple: almost all of your turnover is at 21 percent. A hair salon with a beauty corner deals with both rates, which means your till or booking system has to split by service. If it cannot, an inspection will apply the higher rate to everything you cannot prove was allowed to be lower.
What the KOR is, and where the threshold sits
The small business scheme is an exemption you apply for yourself. Inside it you charge no VAT to your clients, you file no VAT return on that turnover, and you owe nothing. The price on your list is entirely yours.
The threshold is 20,000 euro of turnover per calendar year, excluding VAT (kvk.nl, checked September 2026). The Belastingplan 2027 bill of 15 September 2026 does not touch that threshold, so the same amount applies in 2027. That is turnover, not profit. For a salon that works out at roughly 400 to 500 treatments a year at an average ticket of 40 to 50 euro, so two working days a week already brings you close to it.
There is a price for that exemption, and it is exactly one thing: you no longer reclaim VAT on anything you buy. No VAT back on your fit-out, your chairs and equipment, your stock, your rent, your energy or your software. That VAT simply becomes part of your costs.
Since 2025 there is also an EU version of the scheme for cross-border turnover, with a union threshold of 100,000 euro (kvk.nl, checked September 2026). For a salon that only cuts hair for clients in the Netherlands it plays no role.
Opting in, opting out, and the deadlines people miss
The KOR does not start by itself, and you cannot casually walk back out. Three dates to write down.
Opting in. You do it through Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, at the latest 4 weeks before the start date of the new quarter (kvk.nl, checked September 2026). As a starter you can only register once your VAT identification number has arrived, so it cannot be done at the KVK counter.
No minimum term any more. Up to and including 2024 you were locked in for three years. Since 2025 that minimum participation term has gone (kvk.nl, checked September 2026), which makes the decision lighter than it used to be.
Opting out. At the latest one month before the end of the quarter. And here is the catch: after deregistering you cannot rejoin for the rest of that calendar year plus the whole of the next one (kvk.nl, checked September 2026). Leaving is easier than coming back.
In practice that means: if you are unsure and a large investment is coming, start outside the KOR. You can always opt in later. The other way round costs you at least a year. And if you have already reclaimed VAT on a large investment and then want to join the scheme, ask the Belastingdienst whether part of that refund has to be adjusted, because that can flip the calculation.
When the KOR actually costs you money
The KOR gets presented as the gift for starters. That only holds if you barely invest. A new salon almost by definition does invest, and then the sum falls the other way.
Take a hairdresser turning over 18,000 euro in her first year, so comfortably under the threshold. She fits out her space for 18,000 euro including VAT, and spends another 2,000 euro including VAT on products, rent and software.
Outside the KOR. On 18,000 euro of hairdressing turnover including 9 percent VAT she remits roughly 1,486 euro. The 18,000 euro investment including 21 percent VAT carries about 3,124 euro of input VAT, and the 2,000 euro of costs another 347 euro. That is 3,471 euro reclaimed against 1,486 euro paid. On balance she receives about 1,985 euro back from the Belastingdienst.
Inside the KOR. She does not have to remit that 1,486 euro, which is her gain. But the 3,471 euro of input VAT is gone. The difference is the same 1,985 euro, only now against her.
Flip the scenario and the KOR wins. A pedicure starting from home, buying 2,000 euro including VAT of equipment and running 1,500 euro including VAT of costs, has roughly 607 euro of input VAT. On 18,000 euro of turnover at 21 percent she would owe over 3,100 euro. For her the scheme is clearly the better deal.
The rule of thumb that falls out of this: the bigger your investment and the lower your rate, the sooner regular VAT wins. The smaller your investment and the higher your rate, the sooner the KOR wins. Run it with your own two numbers before you fill in a form.
Crossing the threshold halfway through the year
This is the scenario that catches starters out, because a good year produces it on its own. Go past 20,000 euro and the KOR stops at that moment. The supply or service that takes you over is taxed in full, and everything after it as well. You report the excess to the Belastingdienst and start filing returns again (belastingdienst.nl, checked September 2026).
The pain is in your prices. You have charged 45 euro all year with no VAT in it. From the day you cross, VAT has to come out of that same 45 euro, or you raise the price. At 9 percent that is roughly 3.70 euro per treatment, at 21 percent almost 7.80 euro. Your client notices nothing, your margin does.
Two practical habits. Track your running turnover instead of checking in December. If you are at 16,000 euro in October, you know the threshold is close and you can decide deliberately: slow down until January, or adjust prices now so the switch does not eat your margin in one go. And keep in mind that once you have crossed, you cannot simply re-enter the scheme in that same year.
The admin in practice
What does the choice mean day to day at the desk?
Inside the KOR. Your invoices show no VAT, and you state on them that you apply the small business scheme. You file no VAT return on that turnover. You still keep your receipts and invoices: the retention obligation for your records is seven years (belastingdienst.nl, checked September 2026). And you monitor your own turnover, because that 20,000 euro threshold is yours to watch.
Outside the KOR. You file every quarter, usually within a month of the quarter closing. You need three numbers: turnover per rate, the VAT you charged, and the input VAT you are reclaiming. Make sure your system already splits turnover into 9 and 21 percent, because sorting a quarter of receipts afterwards is a wasted evening.
Mixed rates in one till. If you work with both rates, attach the rate to the service and not to the day. A haircut plus a facial is one receipt with two lines and two rates. Sell products alongside it and that is a third line at 21 percent.
Booking system or bookkeeping package? You need both and they do different jobs. The booking system knows what you did and at which rate; the bookkeeping package files the return and produces the annual accounts. So if you are shopping for admin software for your pedicure practice or your salon, you are really shopping for two things, plus the export that connects them. In CelerBook that export is the VAT report as PDF or CSV, per month and per quarter, with turnover excl. VAT, the VAT charged and the amount payable, and a separate line per rate as soon as you work with both 9 and 21 percent. Exactly the three numbers from the paragraph above. What it does not include is a direct integration with a bookkeeping package: you upload the file yourself or email it to your bookkeeper.
Set money aside monthly for income tax as well. As a starting entrepreneur you may qualify for the self-employed deduction (zelfstandigenaftrek), the starter deduction (startersaftrek) and the SME profit exemption, but the amounts change almost every year and the self-employed deduction is being phased down. Look up the current figure on belastingdienst.nl rather than copying one from last year's overview.
How to apply this next week
Three evenings, and your choice is reasoned instead of guessed.
Evening 1: put your service list next to the table above and write 9 or 21 percent behind every treatment. Then count what share of your expected turnover lands in each column.
Evening 2: add up your investment and your annual costs, both including VAT, and work out the input VAT inside them. Put that figure next to the VAT you would remit on your expected turnover. The larger number wins, and that is your answer.
Evening 3: if the KOR is your choice, register through Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk as soon as your btw-id arrives, and put the 4-week deadline before the quarter in your calendar. If you go with regular VAT, put next year's four filing dates in that same calendar right away.
What matters after that is being able to read your turnover per quarter and per rate without emptying a shoebox. CelerBook has a quarterly overview for exactly that: you pull your revenue figures per quarter, broken down by service and by staff member, so your return or your bookkeeper can work from it directly. That is an export of revenue figures, not an accounting package, and it does not file your return for you. Beyond that you get your own booking page on your own subdomain, automatic confirmation emails and an SMS reminder ahead of time at 0.11 EUR ex VAT per appointment, a multi-staff calendar and client management with notes and history. The pricing suits a year when your revenue still has to grow: the first 5 appointments each month are free, after that 0.25 euro excluding VAT per completed appointment, capped at 30 euro per month for a solo business plus 5 euro per additional active staff member. No contract, and no usage means no cost. Try CelerBook for free.