When is the association's sale of a commercial nature?
If the association's sale is of a commercial nature, it is a legal requirement that VAT must be paid. But when is the association's sale of a commercial nature?
These factors play a role:
Customer segment - are they members or not?
Purpose - is the sale purely to give customers the opportunity to support the association's purpose?
Continuity - is it a regular sale or event-based?
Opening hours - do the opening hours fall within general opening hours or do they follow the association's activities?
Extent - are the amounts large and many (external) customers, or are they small amounts and few (external) customers?
Location - is it a permanent store/restaurant/kiosk/café or temporary setups?
Profit - is the profit from the sales used within the association's framework, as determined by the statutory purposes?
Support sales
If products and services are sold to the association's members or companies and individuals who can be equated with members because they buy products/services from the association with the intention of supporting the association's purpose, the sales are not of a commercial nature. This could, for example, involve sponsorships or merchandise.
Sales from a permanent location
If the association has set up a store or cafeteria that is made to stay (permanent) and has regular opening hours that follow general opening hours, and where customers typically do not have a permanent connection to the association and its activities, the sales are of a commercial nature. However, if the opening hours strictly follow the association's activities and the customers are predominantly members or close relations of members or visiting clubs, the sales are not of a commercial nature.
Sales from other locations
If goods or services are sold from places other than a store but have regular continuity in terms of scope and duration, this is also considered commercial sales. This could be an online store, horse boarding (horse pension), or boat berth rental (maritime business). However, this only applies if the customers are predominantly NOT members. If the customers are primarily members and sales to external customers are insignificant, these products/services are NOT considered of a commercial nature.