Gift and Inheritance Tax Act
In order to encourage charitable giving the Gift and Inheritance Tax Act 2012 (Geefwet) was implemented. Donations for culture were part of this Act. The act covers several aspects of fiscal law to make “giving to culture” fiscally attractive. Cultural institutions that wish to profit from this ruling have to qualify as a Public Benefit Organisation, or PBO (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen, ANBI). For donations to cultural ANBIs, there is an additional deduction of 25% up to € 1,250 in income tax and 50% in the corporation tax up to €2,500 to further support the raising of private financing. The gift deduction in income tax makes a distinction between periodic donations and other gifts. Periodic donations are per 1 January 2023 deductible up to €250,000 per year if they are recorded in a deed of gift for at least five years.
In 2024, the Gift and Inheritance Tax Act was evaluated. The evaluation concluded that the gift deduction is effective in stimulating giving behaviour, but not efficient. The increase in donations due to the deduction is smaller than the tax credit associated with it. A significant part of the costs will benefit the donor rather than the receiver. The practicability of the gift deduction is problematic for the Tax and Customs Administration, which leads to inefficiencies and a high percentage of non-use. The researchers suggest converting the gift deduction into a donation subsidy, in which the government contributes a percentage of the gift directly to the receiving institution. This system would improve practicability and ensure that the benefit goes directly to the receiver. After the elections in October 2025, a new cabinet must decide on the future of the donation deduction.
Monuments
Until 1 january 2021, the costs for the maintenance of monuments and gardens were tax-deductible for 80 percent. This applied to buildings listed in the Register of Monuments (Monumentenregister). In September 2016, Minister Bussemaker announced in the Budget Memorandum 2017 (Miljoenennota 2017) that this tax arrangement would be abolished from 2017, but this plan has been postponed. From 2021 the tax-deduction was abolished and replaced with other forms of support for the maintenance of monuments, including subsidy schemes. An example is de Woonhuissubsidie (in Dutch).
Volunteers
Volunteers may earn a tax-free extra income of €210 a month maximum, up to €2100 maximum a year (National Expenses Arrangement – Landelijke Regeling Onkostenvergoeding Vrijwilligers). Additional compensation is possible, provided that the organisation reports the compensation to the tax inspector on a yearly basis.
VAT
The VAT system is divided into three rates: a high rate of 21 percent, a low rate of 9 percent and a 0 percent rate. EU legislation allows the member states to charge the low VAT rate on tickets for shows, theatres, circuses, funfairs, amusement parks, concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas, exhibitions and similar cultural events and venues. This was done in The Netherlands. Creative professionals who work on commission (such as visual artists, architects and designers) were charged the higher VAT rate. The work of writers, composers, journalists and cartoonists is not charged.
The Dutch government has a special agreement with the film industry to promote the production of Dutch films (btw-convenant Film 2018). In exchange for a lower VAT rate on cinema tickets, Dutch film distributors and cinema operators will make more money available for the production of Dutch films through the Abraham Tuschinski Fonds (see also 4.1.4. tax laws)
In 2023, the reduced VAT rate for all goods and services was evaluated (in Dutch) for the first time. The evaluation was rather critical on the effectiveness and efficiency of the reduced rate for some cultural goods and services, sometimes because of very general or vague criteria. The Schoof Cabinet (2024-2025, caretaking from june 2025) initially planned the increase of the VAT rate for culture (with the exception of film). This has been reversed by parliament, causing the reduced VAT rate for culture in the Netherlands to remain unchanged.
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