Starting a food truck: permits, VAT and bookkeeping

Registration and permits

You register with the Chamber of Commerce, after which you automatically receive a VAT number. See registering with the Chamber of Commerce for the steps. Then comes the part specific to food trucks: you need permission per location, and you must meet food safety rules.

• A pitch permit from the municipality where you park. Every municipality has its own rules, fees and waiting lists; for a fixed spot it is often an annual permit.
• Arrangements with the organiser at events and festivals. There the organiser usually handles the permit, but you pay a pitch fee or a percentage of your turnover.
• A hygiene code and working to HACCP, which the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority checks.
• A valid inspection of your gas installation and fire extinguishers. Without it many insurers and organisers will turn you away.

VAT: which rate applies to what?

Just as in regular hospitality, you charge 9 per cent VAT on food and most drinks; some drinks fall under 21 per cent. Unlike hotels, nothing changed for food trucks in 2026: the increase to 21 per cent on 1 January 2026 affected only accommodation, not food and drink.

For the rate it makes no difference whether the customer eats on the spot or takes it away. Your turnover must be split per rate in your records, however, because your VAT return asks for that split.

Keeping your cash records watertight

Because you have many small, partly cash transactions, a reliable point-of-sale system is not a luxury. It splits your turnover per rate automatically and gives you a daily statement to fall back on. In a books investigation in a cash-heavy sector, cash records are the first thing the inspector looks at.

1. Count your cash at the start and end of every trading day and note both amounts.
2. Book your card receipts separately, so cash and bank can be tracked independently.
3. Record cash differences instead of smoothing them away. A small difference is normal; a till that always matches exactly is what looks suspicious.
4. Note what you or your staff eat from stock, because that is not turnover but it is a withdrawal.
5. Keep private withdrawals from the till strictly separate and book them immediately. More on this in cash records and physical money.

The truck itself: depreciation and investment deduction

Buying or converting your food truck is not an expense but an investment: you capitalise it and depreciate it over the years you use it, usually five to eight. See depreciation for the methods.

The investment also yields an extra deduction. If you invest between 2,901 and 71,683 euros in 2026, the small-scale investment deduction gives 28 per cent of that amount as an additional deduction. From 71,684 to 132,746 euros it is a fixed 20,072 euros, which tapers off above that and lapses entirely above 398,236 euros. Per asset the investment must be at least 450 euros.

Margin, purchasing and spoilage

With fresh food something always gets lost: the weather disappoints, a festival empties out, a tub of sauce does not come back. Track what you buy and what you throw away, because only then do you see your real margin instead of your expected margin.

At the end of the year you count what non-perishable stock and packaging remain. That counts in your annual figures; see valuing stock. For the wider hospitality picture, bookkeeping for freelancers in hospitality is the starting point.

Frequently asked questions