The Netherlands considers the re-introduction of a withholding tax for foreign artistes and sportspersons

By Dr Rijkele Betten

The Netherlands has recently amended its tax treaty policy regarding the (non) inclusion of Article 17 Artistes and Sportspersons in its tax treaties.

As from 2011, the tax treaty policy has been to try and exclude Article 17 from tax treaties so that income from artistes and sportspersons would only be taxed in the residence state.

Already from 2007, The Netherlands has abolished the then existing Netherlands withholding tax on such remunerations.

Recently, the Under Minister of Finance has indicated that, although The Netherlands’ position in tax treaty negotiations remains flexible, with the goal of avoiding or limiting international double taxation, he finds it useful to investigate whether to re-introduce a Netherlands withholding tax on the remuneration of foreign artistes and sportspersons. As a main argument, he suggests that such own withholding tax would improve the position of The Netherlands to negotiate beneficial tax treaties.

The re-introduction of such a withholding tax is thus by no means certain, and, on top of that, we will be having a general election in March 2021, so that any concrete action will be in the hands of the forthcoming Government.

Forming a coalition Government in The Netherlands is often a time-consuming process, so the timing of any concrete action in this matter, if any, is uncertain.

Dr Rijkele Betten may be contacted by e-mail at ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.’