Starting 1 January 2026, the Dutch government will increase the VAT rate on overnight accommodation and associated facilities from 9% to 21%. If your property operates in the Netherlands, this change affects how you price, invoice, and report revenue from these services.

The Mews team is on track to meet the government deadline, so that you can manage the VAT update in Mews Events to remain compliant with local tax regulations.

 

You can refer to the Handling tax rate changes article to guide your rate and product updates.

This article explains what the Mews EMS updates automatically, and which actions you need to take.

Mews EMS does not automatically update:

• Tax rates on products and services linked to accommodation, for example, early check-in, upgrades, no-shows.

• Bookable services like day use and late check-out.
• Corrections linked to accommodation.
• Standalone services still taxed at 9%, such as food and beverage.
• Gross rates already configured in your pricing environment.

 

Inn this article you can learn about the following:

• How to prepare for the VAT rate change in the Netherlands starting 1 January 2026 in Mews Events
• How will Mews EMS handle the change
• What will you need to do to handle VAT rate change
  • How to handle the impact of the VAT rate change on your corporate bookings for Gross vs Net pricing
  • The VAT rate change checklist for Dutch properties

How will Mews EMS handle the change

The Mews EMS will handle that part of the VAT rate change which will reduce your manual work. The Mews team will migrate existing bookings starting 5^th December 2025, with a nightly process to handle new 2026 bookings. The final migration for open bookings and product rates will complete on 1 January 2026.

On 1 Jan 2026, the Mews EMS will automatically:

• Update all accommodation rates with 9% VAT to 21% for nights starting 1 January 2026.
• Apply the change to open bills with accommodation items that cover 1 January 2026.
• Update the tax rate codes used for accommodation. The system will automatically replace the 9% tax code with the 21% code.
• This will not affect Items at rates other than 9%. Details of the specific new code applicable to you will be sent to you closer to the start date of the migration.

What will you need to do to handle VAT rate change

The Mews team starts migrating all applicable reservations and updating the tax rate codes on Mews EMS  starting 5^th December 2025

On or after 5th December 2025

 You need to:

1. Verify that your integrations support the updated tax rate codes.
2. Reach out to your integration partners for updates.

On 1 January 2026

1. Log in as an administrator in Mews Operations. You must have this role permissions to make changes to tax settings.
2. Go to your Rates section and:
   1. Open each base rate that applies to accommodation.
   2. Verify that rates for stays starting 1 January 2026 have 21% VAT.
3. Go to your Products section and:
   1. Identify products that relate to accommodation (early check-in, upgrades, etc.).
   2. Update their tax rates from 9% to 21%.
4. Go to your Bookable services section and:
   1. Confirm that only services connected to accommodation have the VAT update.
   2. Do not make any changes to standalone services like bike rental or meeting rooms.
5. Verify that your integrations with third-party products, for example, accounting partners, work correctly with the new codes after 5th December 2025. Note: If you identify potential issues related to tax codes within integrations, you need to reach out to the corresponding integration partner to update the tax codes.

How to handle the impact of the VAT rate change on your corporate bookings for Gross vs Net pricing   

If your rate agreement for corporate bookings is net pricing, and you update only the gross price in Mews Events the VAT rate change will reduce your revenue.

For example, if your Corporate rate is €100 net:

• Under 9% VAT, the gross price is €109, and
• After the VAT change, the same gross price of €109 becomes €86.11 net.

To maintain the net value of the booking, you must manually increase the gross price to €121, so the new net rate remains €100.

The VAT rate change checklist for Dutch properties

1. Keep bills open to allow the Mews team to migrate the VAT rates.
2. Test your integrations for compatibility with the new VAT codes.
3. Adjust 2026 base prices to account for the VAT increase.
4. On 1 January 2026, update VAT on accommodation-related services and products.
5. Review rates on 1 January 2026 to confirm all affected items use 21%.
6. Communicate pricing implications with your business partners as needed.