Cut VAT on real estate to 6%, says ex-Deputy PM Verhagen

The VAT charge on building sites must be lowered from 21 to 6 percent to make new homes cheaper, which could benefit not only consumers but also the suffering construction industry, according to leader of the industry organization Bouwend Nederland Maxime Verhagen. Verhagen says that lowering VAT will encourage the construction of new homes, which he says will also help municipalities be liberated from the billions of euros on building sites that they have not been able to get rid of since the crisis. The ex-politician claims a win-win situation could be at hand if the VAT does indeed go down. "The Kingdom will get less VAT on the ground then, but do remember that now no money is in fact going to the treasury because there are just no building sites being sold. And also think about all the other effects that come up. "The municipalities get extra construction fees and a higher yield out of the valuation of real property. And less money is needed for benefits allowances that all those construction workers need who sit at home because they lost their job after the crisis. I'm just reminding: since 2008, 70,000 jobs were lost."