Starting a business in the Netherlands as an expat

Setting up as self-employed in the Netherlands is refreshingly quick: one appointment at the Chamber of Commerce and you are in business. What trips people up is everything around it, the numbers, the abbreviations and which of them belongs on an invoice. Here is the order things happen in.

1. Registration and your BSN

Before you can register a business you normally need to be registered with a Dutch municipality, which gives you a citizen service number (BSN). If you live abroad but want to run a Dutch business, you can register as a non-resident (RNI) instead.

Nationality matters for the right to work here, not for the registration itself:

• EU, EEA and Swiss nationals can start working self-employed without a permit.
• Other nationals generally need a residence permit that allows self-employment. US citizens have a lighter route through the Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT), which asks for a modest amount of capital in the business.

2. Choose a legal form

Most people starting alone pick one of two:

• Eenmanszaak (sole trader): free to set up, taxed through your personal income tax return, but you are personally liable for the debts of the business. This is what most freelancers start with.
• BV (private limited company): a separate legal entity, set up through a civil-law notary, with corporate tax and a salary you pay yourself. Interesting at higher profits or when you want to limit liability.

You are not locked in: converting an eenmanszaak into a BV later is common.

3. Register with the KVK

You register with the Kamer van Koophandel (KVK, the Chamber of Commerce) online and confirm it in person at one of their offices. Bring valid ID and your BSN, and expect a one-off registration fee.

You will be asked for a trade name, a business address (a home address is fine, though it becomes semi-public) and a description of your activities, which becomes your SBI code. You walk out with your KVK number.

4. Your VAT numbers

The KVK passes your registration to the Belastingdienst (the tax office), which decides whether you are an entrepreneur for VAT purposes and then sends you two different numbers. This confuses almost everyone:

• The VAT identification number (btw-identificatienummer), in the format NL plus twelve characters. This is the public one: it goes on your invoices and your website, and it is the one clients validate.
• The turnover tax number (omzetbelastingnummer), which you use in your dealings with the tax office, for example when filing your VAT return.

Only the first one belongs on an invoice. Which details are mandatory besides it is covered in What must a Dutch invoice contain.

5. Practical things to arrange

• A business bank account. Not legally required for a sole trader, but keeping business and private money apart makes your bookkeeping and your tax return far easier.
• DigiD and eHerkenning. Sole traders file their VAT returns with DigiD; a BV needs eHerkenning, which takes a few days to arrange and costs money, so do not leave it until the deadline.
• Insurance. There is no automatic sick pay or disability cover for the self-employed here. Professional liability and disability insurance are worth pricing early.
• Bookkeeping from day one. You must keep your records for seven years, invoices included.

6. Decide on VAT and pricing

Once you have your numbers, you charge Dutch VAT: usually 21%, sometimes 9% or 0%. See Calculating VAT.

If you expect to stay under 20,000 euro of turnover, the small businesses scheme (KOR) lets you invoice without VAT at all, which is attractive when your customers are private individuals.

Invoicing clients back home or elsewhere in the EU? The VAT rules change, see Invoicing clients outside the Netherlands.

Then start invoicing

With factuurmaken you can create a compliant Dutch invoice in minutes, in English or in Dutch, with the VAT calculated for you. Rules and thresholds change, so check anything that affects your tax position with the Belastingdienst or a bookkeeper.