Commission vs. VAT/Tax — they're not the same thing

A lot of chefs mix these two up, since they both show up on the same invoice. Here's exactly how each one works.

What is VAT?

VAT (Value Added Tax) is a consumption tax added to the price of goods and services, charged to the end customer and collected by the seller on behalf of the government. If you've ever seen a receipt with a tax line added on top of the price, that's VAT (or a local equivalent — some countries call it GST or sales tax).
A few basics worth knowing:

• Who can charge it: Only businesses that are registered for VAT can legally add it to an invoice. If you're not VAT-registered, you generally can't charge VAT — not because you're choosing not to, but because you're not authorized to.
• The rate varies by country and by item: Different countries set their own VAT rates, and some items (like certain food categories) can have different rates than others (like alcohol or services).
• It's collected, not kept: When a VAT-registered business charges VAT, that money isn't extra profit — it's collected from the customer and then paid on to the tax authority, usually via periodic returns (e.g. quarterly).
• Registration thresholds exist: Many countries only require VAT registration once a business earns above a certain amount per year. Below that, individuals and small businesses often aren't VAT-registered at all — which is very common among private chefs just starting out.

This matters for you because, as a chef, VAT is something you manage on your own invoices — it's part of running your business, separate from anything ChefMaison does.

How VAT works on your ChefMaison proposals

For every service you provide, you build a proposal — and that proposal becomes the invoice sent to your client. Every item you add to it (a menu, wine pairing, travel costs, staffing, etc.) has its own VAT rate, which you set, based on what applies to your business and your country's rules. This invoice is generated automatically by our system, but it's issued in your name to your client — exactly like an invoice you'd send yourself. Getting the VAT right on each item is entirely your responsibility.

What is commission, then?

Commission is completely different: it's the fee ChefMaison charges you for using the platform — for bringing you the client, handling the payment, generating the paperwork, and running the marketplace. It appears as its own separate line on the invoice, alongside your menu items, never mixed into them.

Why commission still depends on your VAT status — and whose tax it actually is

This is where the confusion usually starts: your VAT status doesn't change the VAT on your own items — it changes ChefMaison's tax liability on the commission we collect from you.
As a marketplace, we charge you commission, and we have to account for tax on that commission ourselves:

• If you have a valid, verified VAT number (i.e. you're a registered business), EU reverse-charge rules mean you handle your own VAT — so we don't need to add anything on our side, and your commission stays at the standard rate.
• If you don't have a valid VAT number, we have to account for VAT on the commission ourselves, so it gets built into a higher, combined commission rate instead.

So when your commission rate changes based on your VAT status, that's about our tax obligation on the money we collect from you — it says nothing about your own tax situation.

Updated on: 14/08/2026