If you sell used goods, cars, art, antiques, or collectibles in the Netherlands, the margeregeling lets you pay BTW only on your profit margin instead of on the full sale price. Here's how it works in 2026, including the abolition of the 9% supplementary scheme.
What Is the Margeregeling and Who Can Use It?
The margeregeling (margin scheme) is a special Dutch VAT regime under Wet OB 1968 (articles 28b-28i) that lets resellers of used goods pay BTW only on the profit margin: the difference between the sale price and the purchase price, instead of on the full sale price.
You can apply the scheme if all of these are true:
- You act as a trader (wederverkoper) and the goods you sell are part of your normal business activity (a car dealer can use it for cars, an IT consultant cannot use it for the one second-hand car they happen to resell).
- The goods are used goods (margegoederen): goods that can be reused as-is or after repair, plus art, antiques, and collectibles.
- You purchased the goods inside the EU from a supplier who could not charge BTW: a private individual (non-entrepreneur); an entrepreneur with no right to deduct input BTW (for example a KOR user selling a former business asset); or another reseller who also applied the margeregeling.
Why it matters: if you buy a used laptop from a private person for €300 and sell it for €400, you pay BTW only on the €100 margin (about €17), not on the full €400 (which would be €83 if you applied 21% normally). For high-volume, low-margin trades, this is the difference between a viable business and a loss-making one.
Related guides on Taxmo: Complete Margeregeling Guide (cross-border NL+BE reference) · ZZP Invoicing Guide 2026 (full BTW invoice requirements) · ZZP Tax Changes 2026 (broader 2026 context).
How Do You Calculate BTW on the Margin?
The margin is calculated including BTW, and you back out the VAT from it:
Margin = sale price - purchase price
BTW = margin x 21/121 (for the 21% standard rate)
Worked example, used car:
- Sale price (customer pays): €5,500
- Purchase price (paid to private seller): €4,000
- Margin (incl. BTW): €1,500
- BTW owed (€1,500 x 21/121): €260.33
- Net margin: €1,239.67
If the margin is negative or zero (you sold at a loss), BTW is €0 on that item, and you cannot reclaim BTW from the Belastingdienst. That's the trade-off for not having charged BTW on the input.
Key rule on invoices: under the margeregeling you must not show BTW separately. The buyer cannot deduct it. If they ask for an itemised BTW invoice, you either decline the margeregeling for that item (and apply 21% over the full sale price) or stay on the scheme and the buyer loses the deduction.
Individual Method vs Globalisation Method (Globalisatiemethode)
There are two ways to administer the margeregeling, and the choice has real cash-flow consequences.
1. Individual method (per goed). You calculate the margin per item. Each sale generates its own BTW amount. Losses on one item do not offset profits on another.
2. Globalisation method (globalisatiemethode). You calculate the total margin per filing period (usually a quarter): sum of all sale prices minus sum of all purchase prices of margegoederen. Negative quarterly margins can be carried forward and offset against positive margins in later periods.
The globalisation method is mandatory for traders in certain categories, primarily transport vehicles (cars, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, caravans), because individual tracking is impractical for high-turnover stocks. For other goods (electronics, clothing, books), you can choose.
Once you choose, you're locked in for 5 years. A switch only takes effect on 1 January of the following year, after notifying the Belastingdienst. The 5-year lock-in is to prevent traders from gaming the system by flipping between methods to suppress BTW.
Which one fits you?
- Used car dealer: Globalisation (mandatory)
- Antique dealer with a few high-value pieces: Individual (track per piece)
- Vintage clothing / kringloop reseller: Globalisation (volume + occasional losses)
- Art gallery with €5k+ pieces: Individual (clearer per-work P&L)
What Must Be on a Margeregeling Invoice?
Your invoice under the margeregeling must include all the normal invoice elements (date, sequential number, your BTW-id, KVK number, client details, description, total) plus a clear notation that you applied the margin scheme.
Accepted Belastingdienst notations (use the one that fits the goods):
- For general used goods: Bijzondere regeling - gebruikte goederen
- For art: Bijzondere regeling - kunstvoorwerpen
- For collectibles or antiques: Bijzondere regeling - voorwerpen voor verzamelingen en antiquiteiten
You can write these in English as well: Margin scheme - second-hand goods is accepted, but a Dutch notation is safer for Belastingdienst audits.
Three things you must NOT do on a margeregeling invoice:
- Do not state the BTW amount separately. The price is one all-in figure.
- Do not show a BTW rate (no "21% BTW" line).
- Do not let the buyer assume they can deduct BTW. If they push back, the answer is "this is a margeregeling sale; BTW is not separately invoiced and not deductible."
Buyers who are entrepreneurs themselves sometimes prefer a normal 21% invoice (so they can reclaim BTW). You're allowed to step out of the margeregeling per sale and apply the normale BTW-regeling on the full sale price instead. Document this choice in your administration.
Inkoopverklaring: The €500 Rule When Buying from Private Sellers
When you buy used goods from a private individual (non-entrepreneur) and the purchase price is €500 or more, you are legally required to draw up an inkoopverklaring (purchase declaration) at the moment of purchase.
Mandatory contents of the inkoopverklaring:
- Date of purchase
- Seller's full name, address, and identity document number (passport, ID card, or driving licence)
- Buyer's full name, address, KVK number, and BTW-identification number
- A clear description of the goods (for cars: make, model, chassis/VIN, mileage; for art: artist, title, dimensions)
- Purchase price in euros
- Signature of the seller confirming the sale
Below €500 you don't need a formal inkoopverklaring, but you still need to keep a record (receipt, bank transfer reference, or simple log) to prove the purchase and the price, otherwise the Belastingdienst can refuse the margeregeling and tax 21% over your full sale price.
Why this matters in 2026: since the 2023 tightening of cash-payment rules and the 2025 cash ban for goods over €3,000, paper trails are scrutinised harder. A missing inkoopverklaring on a €4,500 used motorbike is the single most common reason auditors deny the margeregeling on second-hand vehicles.
What Changed in 2025-2026 for Art, Antiques, and Collectibles?
Until 2024, the Netherlands had a so-called supplementary margeregeling: if you bought art, antiques, or collectibles with 9% BTW charged (for example, art bought directly from the artist), you were allowed to apply the margeregeling on resale.
From 1 January 2025 this supplementary scheme was abolished. For art, antiques, and collectibles purchased with BTW charged, you must now use the normal BTW regime on resale: 21% over the full sale price, and you deduct the 9% input BTW you paid on the purchase. The margeregeling remains available only when you bought without BTW (from a private person, a KOR user, or another margeregeling reseller).
This continues unchanged in 2026. The basic margeregeling for used goods (cars, electronics, clothing, books, etc.) is unchanged. The 9% reduced rate on direct sales by the artist also remains, but resellers of those works can no longer push that 9% into the margin calculation.
The 2026 standard BTW rate is 21% for margin calculations. There is no scheduled change to the margeregeling itself in the 2026 Belastingplan.
What to do:
- Audit your stock as of 1 January 2025: any art/antiques you bought with 9% BTW should no longer be in the margeregeling administration.
- For new purchases from artists at 9%, deduct the BTW on the purchase and charge 21% on the sale.
- For purchases from private collectors (no BTW), the margeregeling still applies as before.
When You Cannot Use the Margeregeling
The margeregeling is not a catch-all. It does not apply in these situations:
- Goods bought with BTW separately invoiced (other than the abolished 9% art exception). You can deduct that input BTW and must charge 21% normally on resale.
- New goods or "as good as new" vehicles supplied to other EU countries. EU rules force these into the normal regime to prevent cross-border arbitrage.
- Unworked precious metals and rough gemstones (gold bullion, raw diamonds). Specific other regimes apply.
- Goods not part of your normal business activity. If a graphic designer sells their old MacBook, that's a private sale outside the margeregeling (and arguably outside BTW altogether).
- Goods imported from outside the EU if you paid import BTW and deducted it. You're already in the normal regime.
Five common mistakes that trigger Belastingdienst corrections:
- Mixing margeregeling stock with normal stock in the same administration. Keep separate ledgers or clearly tag each item.
- No inkoopverklaring for purchases ≥ €500. The most common reason for denied margeregeling on cars and high-value antiques.
- Showing BTW separately on the invoice. Voids the scheme for that sale; the Belastingdienst will tax 21% on the full price.
- Switching methods without notice and outside the 5-year lock-in.
- Carrying forward a negative margin under the individual method. Only the globalisation method allows offsetting.
How Taxmo handles the margeregeling end-to-end:
- Stocklijst (margin inventory panel): each margin expense entry auto-creates an inventory line; it flips to "sold" when the matching margin income entry is booked. Built for the individuele methode but also reconciles a globalisatie quarter.
- Inkoopverklaring dialog: opens from any margin expense row, captures the seller's name, address, ID-number, and good description per Wet OB art. 28d, persists server-side, and exports a print-ready PDF for the seller to sign offline.
- Compliant invoicing: invoices generated under the margin scheme automatically carry "Bijzondere regeling - gebruikte goederen" (or the art/antiques variant), suppress the separate BTW line, and route the sale into the correct BTW-return field.
- Quarterly BTW return: margeregeling turnover is split from normale BTW turnover automatically; you see exactly which entries hit each rubric before filing.
- Settings → Margin scheme: pick individuele vs globalisatiemethode once, lock in the 5-year choice, and the rest of the app follows.
Configure it under /settings#margin-scheme and start the free plan to try the workflow on your real numbers.
