Starting a business in the Netherlands
One KVK appointment does most of it - the thinking is in the KOR, the hour criterion, and whether your one big client is legally your employer.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
The Dutch founding process is genuinely one appointment: register at the KVK, and the tax office learns of it automatically. What deserves thought happens around it - the VAT small-business scheme, the income-tax deductions that hang on a 1,225-hour criterion, and the schijnzelfstandigheid rules on false self-employment, which the tax office resumed enforcing in 2025.
That last one first: if you work for one client, on their tools, under their direction, Dutch law is increasingly willing to call it employment whatever the contract says - with consequences mainly for the client. A healthy zzp practice has multiple clients and looks like one.
The legal shell
Eenmanszaak or BV?
Eenmanszaak (sole trader / zzp)
The default. Income-tax deductions - zelfstandigenaftrek, startersaftrek, the MKB profit exemption - make it fiscally attractive at ordinary profits.
The one-off KVK fee (~€80) and nothing else.
The zelfstandigenaftrek is being cut year by year - the advantage shrinks on schedule. Liability is personal.
BV
Liability, partners, investors, or profits high enough (roughly beyond €100k) that the corporate rate plus salary structure beats income tax.
Notary formation commonly €500-1,000; capital from €0.01.
The DGA salary rule: as director-shareholder you must pay yourself a customary wage (gebruikelijk loon, ~€56k benchmark) before profits.
The sequence
Register at the KVK
Where: kvk.nl - book the appointment online, finish in personCost: ~€80 one-offTakes: Half an hour; the number is issued on the spot
Bring ID and a Dutch address (or a business address). You leave with the KVK number, and the Belastingdienst issues the VAT identification number (btw-id) by post within about two weeks - a separate, privacy-safe number from the internal omzetbelastingnummer.
Decide on the KOR
Where: Belastingdienst, online
The kleineondernemersregeling exempts you from charging and filing VAT if turnover stays under €20,000. Since 2025 it is joined by the EU-KOR, extending the exemption to other EU countries under the EU-wide rules. The catch mirrors every VAT exemption: no input-VAT reclaim, and B2B clients do not care about your gross price. Opting in binds you for the calendar year at minimum.
Track the hour criterion from day one
The zelfstandigenaftrek and startersaftrek require 1,225 hours of work on the business per year, and the burden of showing it is yours. A simple hours log started in week one is the cheapest tax planning available in the country.
Arrange what employment used to provide
No compulsory occupational disability cover exists yet for zzp-ers (a mandatory scheme has been legislated to arrive late this decade - watch it). An arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering is expensive and worth pricing anyway; the broodfonds - a mutual sick-pay circle - is the popular middle way. Pension: the fiscal room (jaarruimte) is there if you use it.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| KVK registrationOne-off. | ~€80 |
| btw-idArrives by post after registration. | €0 |
| BV via notaryOnly for the company route. | €500-1,000 |
| Disability insuranceOptional today, the largest gap employment used to cover. | €100-300/month |
The words on the forms
- KVK
- The chamber of commerce and its register - the one appointment.
- btw-id
- The public VAT number on your invoices.
- KOR
- The small-business VAT exemption under €20,000.
- zzp’er
- Independent professional without staff - the working word for freelancer.
- zelfstandigenaftrek
- The self-employed income-tax deduction, tied to 1,225 hours.
- gebruikelijk loon
- The customary wage a BV director-shareholder must take.
- schijnzelfstandigheid
- False self-employment - enforced again since 2025.
The traps
- One-client dependence now that enforcement is back - the risk lands on the client, and clients know it.
- No hours log, and a deduction worth thousands refused for want of evidence.
- Opting into the KOR while your customers are businesses.
- Confusing the btw-id (public) with the omzetbelastingnummer (internal) on forms.
Where to check this yourself
- KVKRegistration and solid English-language guides.
- BelastingdienstKOR, btw, the deductions.
- Business.gov.nlThe government’s English portal for entrepreneurs.
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.