Junior Finance Minister Hans Vijlbrief in a letter to the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament has announced that all face masks that are sold domestically are to be zero-rated with effect from 25 May 2020, without distinction being made between surgical and non-surgical masks and for a term which is set to expire on the first of September 2020. The measure in question is being implemented with a view to the face mask obligation which from the first of June onwards is to apply to all users of public transport throughout the Netherlands. The (temporary) application of zero rating (as opposed to value-added tax exemption) protects face mask retailers from forfeiting their input tax deduction entitlement in connection with the product. The practical details of the face mask zero rating measure are currently being finalised.
Dutch version: Nultarief btw op mondkapjes