Park Sleep Fly package: 9% and/or 21% VAT?

Parking is subject to 21% VAT and a hotel stay to 9%. Where the two are offered together, the question is whether there is a single composite supply attracting one rate.

The situation

A hotel near Schiphol airport offers a Park Sleep Fly package comprising accommodation, a shuttle bus and parking for up to 29 days after the overnight stay. A single charge of € 240 is made for it. The hotel also offers overnight stays without parking, for € 200.

The question

Which VAT rate applies to the package?

The answer

It must be established whether this composite supply is a single indivisible supply attracting one rate, or separate supplies each taxed on their own.

The Court of Justice takes as its starting point that every supply must normally be regarded as distinct and independent. There are two exceptions. There is a single supply where two or more elements are so closely linked that objectively they form one indivisible supply which it would be artificial to split, or where one supply is the principal supply and the others are ancillary and follow its VAT treatment. A supply is ancillary where for the average consumer it is not an end in itself but merely a means of better enjoying the principal supply.

In 2018 and 2021 the Dutch Supreme Court made clear that providing parking for a charge at a theme park, zoo or nature park is an independent supply that does not share in the reduced rate for admission.

In early 2023 the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam held that parking after an overnight hotel stay is an independent supply: the average consumer sees an economic purpose of its own in long-stay parking at an airport. The charge must therefore be split by reference to market value. On 21 February 2025 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld that decision without further reasoning.

Splitting is not artificial in our view, because neither supply serves the other and both can be offered separately. The part of the charge relating to short-stay accommodation attracts 9% VAT and the parking element 21%. Here it may be assumed that € 40 relates to the parking, because accommodation without parking costs € 40 less.

Why this matters in practice

Where a package comprises several supplies that would individually attract different rates, establish whether there is one supply or several for VAT purposes. Charging a single price is an indication of a single supply, but it is not decisive. Nor is the customer's freedom to take or leave an ancillary element.

From 2026 the rate for hotel accommodation rises from 9% to 21%. For this case that means 21% VAT is due on the whole charge and not just on the parking element. Whether there are one or more supplies then ceases to matter.