Genuine samples: deduction intact
A sample exists to let the market test the product: the trial size, the demo unit, the tasting. Input VAT on genuine samples stays deductible, and handing them out stays outside VAT. The form matters: a version recognisable as a sample supports the file.
Business gifts: the BUA line
Gifts to relations fall under the Dutch exclusion decree (BUA). The core rule: stays the total of gifts and staff benefits per receiver under €227 excluding VAT per year, deduction stays intact. Above the line, the input VAT on those gifts is corrected in the final return of the year.
Promotional goods with a price
“Buy one, get one” and bundle deals are sales at a combined price: the VAT follows the money actually paid, spread over the goods supplied. That keeps promotions inside the regular system, at the rates on Dutch VAT rates 2026.
The administration
Track per receiver what left the door: the year-end BUA test runs per relation. The correction, where due, lands in the fourth-quarter return — the filing mechanics in filing Dutch VAT returns.
The neighbouring questions
In the same direction: The Margin Scheme and Intrastat in the Netherlands.