Cabinet to push through with VAT increase on books, sport events, festivals: report

The government will not reverse its plan to increase the VAT rate for hotels, books, sporting events, festivals, and sports schools, among other things. Despite the massive protest from the involved sectors, the Schoof I Cabinet needs 2.2 billion euros that the measure will raise too desperately to scrap it, sources close to the budget talks told AD.

The government is currently negotiating next year's budget together with the leaders of coalition parties PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. The higher VAT rate formed part of the coalition agreement.

The measure is expected to yield 2.2 billion euros from 2026. That money must pay for the tax relief for citizens. According to the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), the average Netherlands resident will gain 2.5 percent in purchasing power this year and 1.1 percent in 2025 due to the tax relief measures.

The book industry is disappointed. “We will continue to draw the government’s attention to their own priorities,” Eveline Aendekerk, director of the CPNB foundation, told AD. “Reading and language skills are essential. Increasing VAT on (school) books is completely at odds with that. The revenues that this will yield for the treasury in the short term are small, but the costs in the long term are extremely high. The book industry continues to ask the government to show courage and make an exception for books.”

Perhaps even more important is that the opposition parties in parliament are also against the VAT increase. And the coalition needs opposition support to obtain a majority in the Senate, where the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB don’t have more than half the seats.