Working through a platform: are you in business and what about the VAT?

Business, side income or actually an employee?

For income tax the tax authorities look at the whole picture: how many clients do you have, do you run risk, do you set your own rate and hours, and do you invest in your work? If you do a few shifts a month alongside a job, it is often income from other activities. If you work at it structurally, it is business profit with all the deductions that go with it. Where that line runs is covered in from side income to business.

There is also the question of whether you are actually employed by the platform. If the platform sets your rate, your route and your order of work, and you are penalised for refusing a shift, that looks like authority. Courts have ruled in several cases that employment existed, and European rules are coming that start from a presumption of employment in platform work. See false self-employment and the DBA act.

VAT: work with the gross amount

The biggest mistake in platform work is equating revenue with what lands in your bank account. Your revenue is the whole amount the customer pays; the commission the platform withholds is a cost for you. So both amounts belong in your books, not just the balance. Request the statements monthly and keep them with your records.

On your own service you charge 21 per cent VAT, unless an exemption applies, for example for certain care services. If the platform is in another EU country and invoices you commission without VAT, that VAT is reverse-charged to you: you declare it in your return and deduct it in the same return. See VAT on invoices from foreign suppliers.

The platform reports your data

Digital platforms must report data about their sellers and service providers to the tax authorities: who you are, what you earned and how many transactions there were. That applies to platforms for jobs, delivery, rental and sales. So your income is known, even if you do not declare it yourself. See selling through platforms and tax.

In practice: make sure your own figures match what the platform reports. If something runs through a second app or in cash, include it just as carefully. A difference between what was reported and what you declare is exactly the kind of signal an audit starts from, see a tax audit.

What you deduct in this work

Your costs depend on what you do, but most platform workers have the same items: transport, phone and equipment. If you drive your own car or scooter, you deduct € 0.25 per business kilometre and keep a trip log. If you use a bike you bought for the business, you depreciate it or deduct it at once below € 450, see a company bike and travel costs.

Also: the business share of your phone and data, a thermal bag or tools, cleaning products, and work clothing with a company logo. Ordinary clothing without a logo is not deductible, even if you only wear it for work, see work clothing. If your turnover stays below € 20,000 a year, the small business scheme can save you VAT returns, but you then get no VAT back on your costs either.

Frequently asked questions