Taxation

Taxes are the primary source of income for the government, and are used to finance general facilities. This includes the railway infrastructure, which is of crucial importance to NS. As a state participation, NS wants to be fully transparent as regards the money flows associated with taxation. The table below presents the amounts paid and received.

From a tax perspective, NS incurred a loss in the Netherlands in 2022, as in the preceding years. This situation is due in particular to the fact that the reversal of the impairment was not recognised for tax purposes, and does not result in a taxable profit. Due to the tax losses incurred, NS has not paid any tax on profits (corporate income tax) in the Netherlands in the past few years. Under the existing tax rules, the tax losses can be set off against future profits. In the financial statement for reporting purposes, the tax on profits is calculated on the basis of the applicable tax rates, with due regard for the tax rules that give rise to permanent and temporary differences between the determination of the profit for commercial purposes and the determination for tax purposes. The effective tax rate for profit before corporation tax was 7% (2021: -276%). This lower effective tax rate relative to the nominal tax rate of 25.8% is caused mainly by the upward revaluation of temporary differences as a result of the expected release of tax deferrals for impairments and untaxed results of the restructuring of the German operations.

NS’s costs are largely subject to the high VAT rate. We can set off the VAT charged against the VAT that we have to pay on our sales. Most of NS’s sales are taxed at the lower VAT rate or are zero-rated. In the United Kingdom, the VAT rate on the sale of train tickets is zero.

Payroll tax is a tax that we, as the employer, withhold from the salaries of our employees and then pay to the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst).