Owners of a flat in the same building are members of the Owners’ Association (VvE). This membership is automatically linked to ownership of the flat.
Reserve fund
Owners’ associations are obliged to set aside funds for major maintenance of the building. The owners of the flats must pay a contribution into the reserve fund, naturally in proportion to their share in the property.
This contribution is based on a long-term maintenance plan. If no such plan exists, the contribution amounts to 0.5% of the building’s replacement value.
The Owners’ Association may waive the requirement to make a contribution to the reserve fund where:
- 80%, as decided by the members at the owners’ meeting, and;
- the individual owners have immediate access to the maintenance costs.
Box 3
An flat qualifies for income tax treatment as a principal residence if:
- it is made available on the basis of ownership (or a comparable right) and
- is the owner’s main residence.
The owner-occupied home is taxed under Box 1. An additional amount must be added to your income to reflect the benefit of living in the property, based on the WOZ value of the flat. The interest and costs associated with a mortgage taken out on the owner-occupied property are tax-deductible, provided the strict conditions applicable to that deduction are met.
Membership rights in the Owners’ Association are a legal concept that exists alongside ownership of the flat. These membership rights are therefore treated separately from the property for tax purposes. As a result, this right is not taxed under Box 1, but under Box 3 (income from savings and investments). The value of the reserve fund must therefore be treated as an asset under Box 3. Incidentally, if the owners’ association has incurred debts, this value may also be negative on balance.
Exemption
On the television programme Radar, amongst others, there have been calls to exempt the value of membership rights in a owners’ association from Box 3. Minister Ollongren (Ministry of the Interior) is, however, opposed to this. In answers to parliamentary questions She draws a comparison with homeowners. They, too, must use their savings – which are not exempt under Box 3 – for the (major) maintenance of their homes. Ollongren does not consider the argument that members of a homeowners’ association cannot reclaim their contribution to the reserve fund from the association to be decisive.