A new policy statement No. 2022-6224 was issued on 12th May 2022 by the Dutch Tax Office. The decree entered into force on 13th May 2022 except for section 3.2 Transport Insurance which will be effective one year later, that is as of 13th May 2023.
Although the 11-page decree includes several sections and subsections, the primary substantive change can be found under Section 3.2.2 Transport insurance – Storage coverage.
The new rule, effective as of 13th May 2023, extends the period of storage from one month to three months within transport insurance. It explains that storage before or after the transport may be related to transport. To apply for the exemption no separate premium amount must be allocated within the policy document to storage insurance. The statement adds that it might be possible to apply for the exemption if the storage period exceeds three months, but in these cases, it is the insurers` responsibility to demonstrate that there is an “absolutely necessary” connection between the transport and the storage. While in case of a period of less than three months the “absolute necessary” connection is deemed. Although the decree uses the phrase “absolute necessary”, no precise definition is given.
The other notable section of this policy statement found in Section 3.2 is the introduction of the so-called ‘own transport’ definition concerning policies covering Class 7 / Goods in Transit risks. The broad definition of `own transport` is the following: “transport when no transport company is contracted, but commercial transport is involved”. Later, the decree explains that `own transport` includes:
- The transport of commercial goods that originate from or are intended for the own company and that are transported by the company itself and for its own account.
- The carriage of own goods that are transported for some time at the place of destination to stay. This may include a business asset such as a crane that is transported to the construction site for subsequent deployment during construction, but also to a work of art exhibited in a studio.
The importance of the above clarifications lies in the fact that risks mapped as Class 7 / Goods in Transit are exempt from Dutch IPT (Article 24). Furthermore, IPT in the Netherlands is very high compared to the IPT rates applied by other EU countries. Dutch IPT is an insured-borne tax and the tax should be shown on the invoice. It is therefore vital for insurance companies to understand whether the insured risk is taxable or not.
With the effect of the entry of this new Decree, the decision of 3rd February 2017 (BLKB2016/973M -Government Gazette 2017, 7818) has been revoked.
