Can I Claim Equipment and Machinery (Bedrijfsmiddelen) as a Business Expense in Netherlands?
Business equipment and machinery are capitalised and depreciated over their economic useful life for Dutch VPB. Small items below approximately EUR 450 can be expensed directly. Investment incentives include KIA (28% small-scale deduction), MIA (27-45% for environmental assets), and VAMIL (accelerated depreciation). Buildings can only be depreciated down to their WOZ value.
What Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax and Customs Administration) says
Wet IB 2001 Art. 3.30 (via Wet VPB): depreciation over economic useful life (fiscale afschrijving). Art. 3.40-3.52: KIA (kleinschaligheidsinvesteringsaftrek), MIA (milieu-investeringsaftrek), VAMIL (willekeurige afschrijving). Art. 3.30a: depreciation floor for buildings at WOZ value.
When you can claim
- Depreciation on computers (3-5 years), machinery (5-10 years), office furniture (10 years), and vehicles (5 years)
- KIA additional deduction of 28% for investments of EUR 2,801-69,765 in qualifying assets (2025)
- MIA deduction of 27%, 36%, or 45% for assets on the Milieulijst qualifying for environmental investment
- Direct expensing of assets costing under approximately EUR 450 excluding BTW
When you cannot claim
- Depreciation of a building below its WOZ value (the WOZ floor prevents write-down to nil)
- KIA deduction on passenger cars, buildings, land, and certain other excluded assets
- Capital gains on depreciated assets sold above tax book value are taxable income in the disposal year
Good to know
Pro tip: Before purchasing significant equipment, check the RVO Milieulijst at rvo.nl to see if the asset qualifies for MIA and VAMIL. Applying MIA and VAMIL together with the KIA can reduce the effective VPB cost of a qualifying investment to below 50% of the purchase price.
Important: VAMIL and MIA applications must be submitted to RVO within 3 months of the investment order being placed, not the delivery or payment date. Missing this window forfeits the incentives.
Stop guessing what you can claim in Netherlands
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