A platform that facilitates short-term accommodation rental or road passenger transport will be deemed to have received and supplied the service itself. This is the new Article 28a of the VAT Directive, added by Directive (EU) 2025/516 as part of the VAT in the Digital Age package (ViDA). Member States must apply it from 1 July 2028 at the earliest and from 1 January 2030 at the latest.
What is covered
- Short-term accommodation rental: the uninterrupted rental of accommodation to the same person for a maximum of 30 nights.
- Passenger transport by road: the section of the service between two points in the EU.
Supplies under the special scheme for travel agents stay outside the rule.
The rule applies by default
The platform is the deemed supplier unless the provider has done both of the following:
- given the platform its VAT number from the Member State where the supply takes place, or its One Stop Shop number;
- declared to the platform that it will charge any VAT due.
A VAT-registered host or driver who does neither falls under the rule as well. Member States may also require the platform to validate the VAT number.
What this means for providers
Where the platform is the deemed supplier, the provider's supply to the platform is exempt. The Dutch consultation draft treats that exemption as one without a right to deduct, so the provider cannot deduct VAT on the related costs. A provider who gives the number and the declaration charges VAT itself, and keeps its right to deduct. The choice therefore depends on how much VAT sits on the provider's costs, weighed against the extra compliance.
What this means for platforms
The platform's own right to deduct is not affected by the deemed supplies. Two further rules apply beyond the fiction:
- Records: a platform that is not the deemed supplier must still keep records detailed enough for the tax authorities to verify that VAT has been accounted for correctly. They must be kept for 10 years.
- Place of supply: from 1 July 2028, a facilitation service provided to a non-taxable person through a platform is taxed where the underlying transaction is supplied.
Choices for Member States
Member States may exclude supplies by businesses under the small business scheme from the rule, for accommodation, transport or both. They may also set criteria, conditions and limitations for treating rentals of up to 30 nights as similar to the hotel sector.
The Dutch draft
The Dutch consultation draft of 3 October 2025 assumes a start on 1 July 2028. It makes a different choice per sector. Hosts under the Dutch small business scheme stay within the rule, so the platform accounts for VAT on their short-term rentals. Road passenger transport carried out in the Netherlands under that scheme stays outside it.
The draft also defines short-term rental in the hotel, boarding house, camping and holiday sector as uninterrupted rental to the same person for a maximum of 30 nights. This is a consultation text, so it can still change. The European Commission expects to publish explanatory notes for platforms in the first quarter of 2027.
What to check now
- Hosts and drivers with a VAT number: plan to give each platform your number and declaration before the start date in your country. Without them, the platform becomes the supplier.
- Hosts under a small business scheme: check what your Member State decides, and compare both routes against the VAT on your costs.
- Short-stay owners: check your rental pattern against the 30-night limit.
- Platforms: record the VAT number and declaration per provider, and set up records for both routes.
mr. J. el Khalfioui LL.M.