Tax benefit for reducing nitrogen emissions

Nitrogen and nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands

Almost 80% of the air consists of nitrogen. Nitrogen is not harmful to us or to nature. But too much nitrogen is harmful to the environment and our health. Especially if it mixes with other substances through chemical reactions. For example, nitrogen oxides (NOx) are released in traffic and construction. And in agriculture and livestock farming, manure causes ammonia (NH3) emissions.

The Dutch government is taking measures to reduce excess emissions. Read more about nitrogen emissions and measures in the Netherlands.

Replace your business assets

You can help reduce nitrogen emissions by replacing or modifying (parts of) your business assets. Examples of solutions and techniques:

• Use less fossil fuels, for example by using electric transport.
• Reuse nitrogen from waste in your production process.
• Reduce ammonia emissions, for example in livestock buildings (in Dutch).
• Use a heating system with low nitrogen emissions.

You will find more environmentally friendly and energy-saving business assets on the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) Environment List and Energy List (in Dutch). To be eligible for a tax scheme, your business asset must be on one of these lists.

Make use of tax benefits

Will you switch to low-nitrogen business assets or modify your current assets? Then you qualify for the following tax benefits:

• MIA (Environmental Investment Allowance): allows you to deduct up to 36% of the investment costs for new, environmentally friendly business assets from your taxable profit. This is in addition to the usual investment deduction. Read how to apply for MIA.
• Vamil (Random Depreciation of Environmental Investments): allows you to depreciate 75% of the investment costs that you incur for new, environmentally friendly assets. In many cases, you can combine the Vamil with the MIA scheme. Read how to apply for VAMIL.
• EIA (Energy Investment Allowance): allows you to deduct up to 45.5% of the investment costs for new, energy-saving operating assets or techniques. This is in addition to the usual investment deduction. This reduces your taxable profit. Read how to apply for EIA.
• The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) handles the applications for these subsidies.

Please check the conditions before applying

You must meet a number of conditions to be eligible for one of these tax benefits. One of the conditions is that you must demonstrate that your investment in a business asset helps to improve the environment. For example, your investment should result in:

• a reduction of harmful nitrogen emission
• reuse of raw materials
• a reduction of waste

Also, the business asset must be new: you may not have used it in your company before. Check the conditions of the MIA and Vamil (in Dutch), and the conditions of the EIA (in Dutch).

Put your own business asset on the Environmental List or Energy List

The tax benefits only apply to business assets that are on the Environment List and the Energy List. Are you a producer or supplier of a low-nitrogen or energy-saving product that is not yet on one of these lists? Then you can have it included in the Environment List (in Dutch) or the Energy List (in Dutch). You can then point out to your customers that if they buy the product from you, they are eligible for a tax benefit.

Extra support due to corona, PFAS and nitrogen crisis

Are you financially affected by the corona crisis, PFAS or nitrogen crisis? And do you need money for the purchase of low-nitrogen assets? Then you can ask your bank to make use of the temporary increased SME credit guarantee scheme (BMKB). Due to the corona crisis, the BMKB has been temporarily increased from 50% to 75%. This allows banks to provide you with higher loans more easily and faster. There are special nitrogen measures for agriculture.