Can I Claim Office Rent and Co-working (Huur Bedrijfsruimte) as a Business Expense in Netherlands?
Office rent, co-working space fees, storage unit rent, and other business premises costs are fully deductible for Dutch VPB. Commercial property leases can be structured as BTW-taxed (optie belaste verhuur at 21%) allowing the tenant to recover input BTW, which benefits both parties if both are BTW-registered.
What Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax and Customs Administration) says
Wet VPB 1969 Art. 8: office rent is deductible as a business cost. Wet OB 1968 Art. 11 lid 1 sub b jo. Art. 11 lid 5: commercial property rental is BTW-exempt by default but landlord and tenant can jointly elect for BTW-taxed rental (optie belaste verhuur) if the tenant uses the property for at least 90% taxable supplies.
When you can claim
- Commercial office lease payments including all service costs on the invoice
- Co-working space memberships, dedicated desk fees, and meeting room hire
- Storage unit rent for business purposes and parking charged as part of the lease
- Utilities billed separately for business premises: electricity, gas, water
When you cannot claim
- Home office costs without a formal BV-to-DGA rental agreement (see home-office-nl entry)
- Office rent paid in advance claimed in full in the payment year rather than accrued to the period it covers
Good to know
Pro tip: Confirm whether your commercial lease is set up with the BTW optie belaste verhuur before signing. This election allows the tenant to recover 21% BTW on rent as input tax. Most landlords of purpose-built office space will offer this, but it must be agreed in the lease. Without it, the landlord passes irrecoverable BTW costs into the rent price.
Important: Rent-free periods at the start of a commercial lease should be spread over the total lease term for VPB purposes rather than treated as zero cost in those months.
Stop guessing what you can claim in Netherlands
AccountsOS automatically categorises expenses with Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax and Customs Administration)-aware rules and tells you exactly what is claimable.
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