Tax schemes for environmentally-friendly investments (MIA and Vamil)

Do you own a company in the Netherlands and do you invest in environment-friendly business assets or technology? You may be able to benefit from 2 tax schemes: the Environmental investment allowance (Milieu-investeringsaftrek, MIA) and/or the Random depreciation of environmental investments scheme (Willekeurige afschrijving voor milieu-investeringen, Vamil).

What are the MIA and Vamil?

The MIA scheme allows you to deduct 27%, 36%, 45% of the investment costs from the taxable profit for an environmentally friendly investment. This is on top of your regular investment tax deductions. As a result you pay less taxes.

With the Vamil scheme, you can decide when you want to write off 75% of your investment costs. You write off the remaining 25% according to the regular investment tax deductions. You can achieve a liquidity or interest advantage if you write off at a time that suits you best. Thus you pay less tax.

You can deduct the following costs:

• Acquisition costs for your investment:

  • purchase price
  • purchase costs, such as transportation costs, import duties, and notary fees
  • operational preparation costs, such as installation and assembly costs
• production costs for the business asset you want to invest in:

  • labour costs (wages and overhead)
  • costs of materials from your warehouse
  • costs of parts that are purchased and installed under your direction
• the cost of environmental consultancy (only for SMEs, in Dutch)

If your project does not generate profit, you may settle this with previous years (carry back) or upcoming years (carry forward).

How much can you deduct with MIA or Vamil?

To find out which percentage (27%, 36%, 45% or 75%) applies to a specific business asset, you can check the Dutch-language Environment list tool (Milieulijst).

When do you qualify?

To apply for the MIA or Vamil scheme you must meet several conditions, such as:

• Your company is registered in the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten or the special Dutch municipalities Bonaire, St. Eustatius or Saba.
• You are liable to pay income tax or corporation tax.
• You invest in a business asset that is on the Environment list (in Dutch) and meets the set requirements. Does the code on the Environment List start with A, B, C, or F? Then random depreciation (Vamil) is possible for that asset.
• You have not used the asset previously.
• You invest at least €2,500 per application.

Read more about all conditions for MIA and Vamil (in Dutch).

You can apply for the MIA in addition to the Vamil. If you have used the Energy Investment Allowance (EIA) for your investment costs, you cannot use the MIA scheme, but you can use the Vamil scheme.

Disinvestment surcharge

Do you fail to use the asset within 3 years? Or did you not pay at least 25% of the investment within 12 months? You have to repay part of the allowance via the disinvestment surcharge (desinvesteringsbijtelling, in Dutch).

Do you sell or give away the business assets within 5 years after your investment? Depending on the total value you may have to repay a portion of the allowance via the disinvestment surcharge. For more information, please contact the Netherlands Tax Administration (Belastingdienst).

How to apply?

Do you want to apply for the MIA or Vamil scheme? You must notify the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO, in Dutch). After your notification you can declare this investment in your tax return.