For a small housing portfolio, repetition feels like control. The first dated flat brings long calls, uncertain quotes and too many choices. By the tenth, the bathroom, floor, contractor route and architect sketch start to look like a script. That script protects margin. It can also change who VAT sees as the organiser.
Gerechtshof Den Haag ruled in ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2026:890, decided on 25 March 2026 and published on Rechtspraak on 27 May 2026. The court held that the Inspector had made plausible that overall control of the housing renovations rested with the taxpayer.
The taxpayer acquired more than 50 properties from 2012 to 2017. Most were dated homes that were renovated and then rented out. Some were sold after renovation. The same architect, contractor, building guidance, style and standard materials appeared again and again. The court read that pattern as more than ordinary client behaviour.
When routine becomes control
A tax file rarely cares what a founder calls the business. Landlord, buyer, portfolio holder and investor are useful words. VAT looks at the work behind them. A company that repeats one renovation concept, makes layout choices, uses fixed parties and carries practical know-how can start to look like the organiser.
That is why Article 24b of the Uitvoeringsbesluit omzetbelasting 1968 matters. It brings the own-builder situation into the construction reverse charge framework. Article 12 of the Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968 supplies the wider route for shifting VAT to the recipient in designated cases.
Rechtbank Den Haag had taken a milder view and treated the taxpayer more like an ordinary client. The Court of Appeal went further. It looked at scale, routine, standard materials, connected purchasing channels, technical choices and practical command. More than 50 properties made the pattern visible, but the test stayed factual control.
The invoice is where pressure arrives
For a founder, this lands first in the invoice. Belastingdienst guidance says that, where the reverse charge applies, the supplier does not charge VAT. The invoice states btw verlegd and includes the customer's VAT identification number. The recipient reports the VAT in its own return.
That can look neutral when full deduction is available. Residential rental does not always give that comfort. A renovation cost that looked clean on a contractor invoice can become a real cash cost if the VAT route was wrong.
A late correction is the sharper problem. If a contractor charged VAT when the reverse charge should have applied, Belastingdienst guidance bars input VAT deduction. The guidance points to a corrected invoice. Years later, the contractor may be gone and the property may already be sold.
The file remembers who decided
Most small real estate businesses standardise because they must. Standard kitchens, standard bathrooms, known contractors and familiar advisers protect margin. CBS reported that renovation and conversion added 4.8 thousand homes to the Dutch housing stock in the first quarter of 2026. Construction turnover excluding project development was 5.1 percent higher than one year earlier.
In that market, repeatability is ordinary business. It also leaves traces. Architect emails can show who decided the layout. Material lists can show a fixed concept. Financing documents may describe work as done partly in own management. Short contractor quotations can show that everyone already knew the model.
Belastingdienst guidance draws one useful distinction. Design work by architects and similar designers is not the same as physical construction work for this reverse charge route. Yet the design trail can still show who controlled the renovation choices. The VAT treatment of the architect's invoice and the proof value of the correspondence are separate questions.
Garages need their own lane
The case also carried a quieter issue: garage rental. Belastingdienst guidance treats rental of parking space for vehicles as VAT-taxable. That includes garage boxes and open or closed parking spaces. The treatment can be different where the parking rental is inseparably linked to another immovable-property rental with the same treatment.
Small landlords often see a garage box as a practical extra beside the apartment portfolio. VAT may see a separate taxable lane. In this case, garage rental formed part of the assessments: €955 for 2015 and €4,464 for 2016 to 2018. Small recurring lines can weaken a clean portfolio margin.
Kadaster reported that investors owned 9.0 percent of all homes on 1 April 2026. Private investor ownership fell, while business investor ownership rose from 5.6 to 5.7 percent. Company investors remain active in building, conversion and portfolio work.
The morning question
The ruling is best read as a control question. Is the business buying occasional contractor services, or is it running a repeat renovation model? The answer sits in the floor plan, material choices, contractor route, change approvals, lender papers and sales file.
The same question belongs with bookkeepers and advisers. Invoice text, VAT number, return treatment, deduction position and project notes need one story. If they do not, the business may still have time to understand the facts before a later discussion turns them into a margin problem.
The Hague ruling gives Dutch real estate a plain lesson. Good repetition builds value. Poorly documented repetition builds tax exposure. The difference is not style. It is knowing, before the first contractor invoice is booked, which role the company is really playing.
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The data, sourcing, and analysis behind this article were conducted by Paolo Maria Pavan. AI was not used to identify sources, build the factual basis, or produce the analytical judgment contained here. AI was used only as a drafting aid. The final English text was personally reviewed, edited, and approved by Paolo Maria Pavan before publication.
