Starting your own business in the Netherlands: everything you need to know

Setting up a sole proprietorship

Most entrepreneurs start with an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship). It is quick to set up, cheap, and you can always switch to a BV later. Bear in mind: you are personally liable. If things go wrong, creditors can also go after your private assets.

Start a sole proprietorship in 6 steps

1. Choose a business name. Use the KvK Name Checker to see whether the name is still available and whether it fits what you do.
2. Check your permits. Some professions and sectors require a permit or qualification, for example hospitality or healthcare.
3. Register with the KvK (Chamber of Commerce). Log in with DigiD, complete the form online and book an appointment at a KvK office of your choice. You can do this from a week before you start until a week after at the latest. Bring your ID; you get your KvK number straight away. More about the KvK ↓
4. Pay the registration fee. Registration costs a one-off €85.15 in 2026. You receive the invoice by email.
5. Wait for the Belastingdienst. You do not need to register separately: the KvK passes on your details to the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration). If you are a VAT entrepreneur, you receive your VAT ID and VAT tax number by post.
6. Sort out the basics. Open a business bank account, choose accounting software and decide how you will keep receipts and invoices. Then your administration is in order from day one.

What is the KvK?

The KvK is the first organisation you deal with as a starter. It is not a company and not the tax office, but an independent administrative body under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Its statutory tasks are to register, inform and advise entrepreneurs.

What does the KvK do for you?

• The Handelsregister (Business Register): your business is registered here, with your KvK number, address, activities and who may sign.
• Your KvK number: you put it on your invoices and website, and you need it for things like a business bank account.
• Extract (uittreksel): the official proof that your business exists, which banks and clients sometimes ask for.
• Information and advice: on starting, rules, permits and the Naamchecker (name checker) to see if your business name is available.
• UBO register: for a BV, this lists the ultimate beneficial owners.

Registering: sole proprietorship yourself, BV through the notary

You register a sole proprietorship or partnership (VOF) yourself. You log in with DigiD, complete the form online and book an appointment at a KvK office of your choice. Sometimes registration can be done fully online. You do not register a BV yourself: the notary incorporates the BV and usually also takes care of the registration in the Handelsregister and the UBO register.

Are you an entrepreneur for the Tax Administration?

Being registered with the KvK does not automatically mean the Belastingdienst sees you as an entrepreneur. And that makes a difference: only as an entrepreneur do you get the entrepreneur's deductions, such as the zelfstandigenaftrek (self-employed deduction) and the startersaftrek (starter's deduction).

What the Tax Administration looks at

• Independence: you decide how, when and where you work.
• Several clients: you do not work for just one client.
• Entrepreneurial risk: you invest yourself and bear the risk if things go badly.
• Continuity and profit: it is not a one-off job and you expect to make a profit.
• Liability: you are personally liable for the debts of your business.
• Visibility: you present yourself as a business, for example with a website.

Not sure? The Belastingdienst has a free online check. If you are not an entrepreneur, you still pay tax on your profit, but as resultaat uit overige werkzaamheden (income from other activities), without the entrepreneur's deductions.

Entrepreneur's deductions in 2026

False self-employment: be careful with one regular client

Since 2025 the Belastingdienst has once again been actively enforcing the rules on false self-employment (the Wet DBA). If you work for one client for a long time, under their authority and just like their employees, this may be treated as employment. The risk lies mainly with the client, but you could lose your entrepreneur's deductions. New rules are on the way, such as a Zelfstandigenwet (Self-Employed Act); these are not yet final. Working mainly for one client? Let us take a look.

Sole proprietorship or BV?

The key difference: with a sole proprietorship, you are the business. With a BV, the business is a separate legal entity, and you own the shares. That changes your liability, your tax and your administration.

When does a BV become worthwhile?

A BV often only becomes worthwhile with a substantial and stable profit, and especially if you want to leave part of that profit in the BV. If you take everything out privately, a sole proprietorship is in many cases more advantageous: with the 2026 figures, the sole proprietorship consistently came out better in our worked examples. Other reasons for a BV: you want to limit your liability, bring in a partner or investor, or you work with large corporate clients.

Read the calculation: BV or sole proprietorship in 2026 (in Dutch) →

How to incorporate a BV

A BV is always incorporated through a civil-law notary. That sounds daunting, but with good preparation it is done in a few weeks.

1. Decide on the structure. Who will be the shareholders, how will the shares be divided, who will be director? And do you want a holding above it straight away?
2. Choose a name, address and objects. The name ends in B.V. The objects describe what the BV will do.
3. Have the articles and deed drawn up. The notary prepares the deed of incorporation containing the articles of association: the rules of your BV.
4. Sign at the notary. Once signed, your BV exists. The legal minimum share capital is €0.01; in practice banks often want to see at least €1.
5. Registration with the KvK and UBO register. The notary usually arranges this for you. Registration costs €85.15.
6. Bank, VAT and payroll. Open a business bank account in the name of the BV. The Belastingdienst sends your VAT details within two weeks. As a DGA you will pay yourself a salary, so payroll administration needs to be set up too.

What is a holding structure?

Why do entrepreneurs choose a holding?

• Putting profit somewhere safe: profit from the operating company can move to the holding tax-free, thanks to the deelnemingsvrijstelling (participation exemption). There it is out of reach of the operating company's risks.
• Deferring tax: you only pay box 2 tax when you take money out of the holding privately. Note: it is a deferral, not an exemption.
• Easier to sell or partner up: if you later sell your operating company, the proceeds can go into the holding tax-free. Bringing in a partner is easier too.

The downside: two BVs means two sets of books and two sets of annual accounts. So a holding mainly pays off if you are genuinely setting profit aside, or if there are risks to shield.

What is btw (Dutch VAT)?

VAT is not a cost for you, but money you pass on. You charge it on top of your price, your client pays it to you, and you pay it over to the Belastingdienst. The VAT you pay yourself on business purchases (your input VAT) is deducted from that.

How the VAT return works

• You usually file quarterly, no later than the last day of the month after the quarter. For the first quarter that is 30 April.
• You put your VAT ID (btw-id) on your invoices. You only use your VAT tax number (omzetbelastingnummer) with the Belastingdienst.
• Late? If you file within 7 days of the deadline, you get no fine. After that a default penalty may follow.

You must apply for the KOR at least 4 weeks in advance. Whether it pays off depends on your clients: if you mainly work for businesses, you often miss out on more reclaimed VAT than you gain.

Read: the VAT return step by step (in Dutch) →

How do you pay tax as an entrepreneur?

As an employee, your employer withholds the tax. As an entrepreneur, you arrange it yourself. These are the taxes you will come across, and when you pay them.

Starting this year? Then request a voorlopige aanslag (provisional assessment) from the Belastingdienst yourself. Otherwise next year you will receive the assessment for this year and the provisional assessment for the new year at the same time. With a provisional assessment you pay in monthly instalments.

Your bookkeeping right from day one

Most starter mistakes are administrative: lost receipts, VAT spent, invoicing too late. That is why with us you start right away, with Fenna booking daily in e-Boekhouden or Moneybird and an accountant who checks your returns.

Read: 5 mistakes new entrepreneurs make (in Dutch) →

Glossary for starters

Eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship)

An eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) is a business owned by one person without a separate legal entity. The owner is personally liable for all the debts of the business and pays income tax on the profit.

KvK (Chamber of Commerce)

The KvK (Kamer van Koophandel, Netherlands Chamber of Commerce) is the independent administrative body that registers businesses in the Netherlands in the Handelsregister (Business Register) and informs and advises entrepreneurs. Every business receives a KvK number when it registers.

Handelsregister (Business Register)

The Handelsregister (Business Register) is the public register kept by the KvK with the details of all businesses and legal entities in the Netherlands, such as name, address, legal form, activities and who may represent the business.

Zzp'er (freelancer)

A zzp'er (self-employed person without staff) is an entrepreneur who works at their own expense and risk, without employees. Usually this is an eenmanszaak; zzp is a description, not a legal form.

Entrepreneur for income tax purposes

You are an entrepreneur for income tax purposes if the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) sees your activities as an independent business: you work independently, for several clients, bear entrepreneurial risk and expect to make a profit. Only then are you entitled to entrepreneur's deductions such as the zelfstandigenaftrek (self-employed deduction) and the startersaftrek (starter's deduction).

Urencriterium (hours criterion)

The urencriterium (hours criterion) is the requirement that you spend at least 1,225 hours per calendar year on your business, and more than on other work. If you meet it, you are entitled to the zelfstandigenaftrek and the startersaftrek.

BV (private limited company)

A BV (besloten vennootschap, private limited company) is a legal entity with shares, incorporated by a civil-law notary. The BV itself owns the business and is liable for its debts; the BV pays corporate income tax on the profit and the shareholder pays tax on salary and dividend.

DGA (director-major shareholder)

A DGA (directeur-grootaandeelhouder, director-major shareholder) is the director of a BV who also owns at least 5% of the shares. A DGA must pay themselves a gebruikelijk loon (customary salary).

Gebruikelijk loon (customary salary)

The gebruikelijk loon (customary salary) is the minimum salary a DGA must pay themselves from the BV. In 2026 this is, as a rule, at least €58,000 a year, or more if a comparable employee would earn more.

Holding structure

A holding structure is a set-up with at least two BVs: a holding BV that holds the shares of an operating company, the BV that carries out the activities. The entrepreneur owns the shares of the holding.

Deelnemingsvrijstelling (participation exemption)

The deelnemingsvrijstelling (participation exemption) means that a holding pays no corporate income tax on dividends and capital gains from a subsidiary BV in which it holds at least 5% of the shares.

Btw (Dutch VAT)

Btw (belasting over de toegevoegde waarde, Dutch VAT) is a tax that you as an entrepreneur charge on top of your price, collect on behalf of the Belastingdienst and pay over with each return, after deducting the VAT you paid yourself.

KOR (small business scheme)

The KOR (kleineondernemersregeling, small business scheme) is a VAT exemption for entrepreneurs with a turnover of at most €20,000 a year in the Netherlands. You then charge no VAT and file no VAT returns, but you also cannot reclaim any VAT.

Voorlopige aanslag (provisional assessment)

A voorlopige aanslag (provisional assessment) is an advance payment of your income tax, in monthly instalments, based on the profit you expect. This way you pay in spread instalments instead of all at once afterwards.

Baseline assessment

A baseline assessment (nulmeting) is the first conversation in which Boekhoudlive maps out your situation in full, such as shareholders, plans, holding and any existing business, as the basis for a tailored price proposal.

Starters Hub

The Boekhoudlive Starters Hub is the place where, as a new entrepreneur, you find everything you need to get your business off to a good start: from eenmanszaak or BV to VAT and tax, with Fenna and our advisors to answer your questions.

Definitions: Boekhoudlive, October 2026. Amounts and rates apply to 2026.

Frequently asked questions from starters

This guide is general information, not personal advice. We are happy to run the numbers for your situation.