Zzp’er: start in the Netherlands

This guide is for newcomers starting a business in the Netherlands.

EU (European Union), EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss citizens can work self-employed without a work permit.

If you are from another country, check your residence card before accepting work. It must allow self-employment or unrestricted work, or you need a dedicated self-employed residence permit. Your client must also check that your residence permission allows the work. The endorsement ‘Arbeid is vrij toegestaan. TWV niet vereist’ means ‘Work is freely permitted. TWV (work permit) is not required’. The work-rights guide explains the different card endorsements. IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) (External site, opens in a new tab) explains the dedicated permit route.

If you have Turkish nationality, the standard points system does not apply to your self-employed residence-permit application. Your business must still serve an essential Dutch economic interest. RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, Netherlands Enterprise Agency) assesses this through your business plan. Check the IND rules for Turkish entrepreneurs (External site, opens in a new tab) before preparing your application.

A separate rule applies to Ukrainian refugees working as freelancers. If you have no self-employed residence permit, your client must obtain a TWV. KVK registration gives you a business number; it does not give you work rights. Your client must also check your status. If the work is legally employment, employee-permit rules may apply.

Check KVK's business criteria before registering. Zzp means ‘zelfstandige zonder personeel’ (self-employed person without staff). Zzp and freelance describe how you work, rather than a legal form. KVK checks whether you supply goods or services independently. It checks whether you receive commercial payment. It also checks whether you regularly work beyond family or friends. It also asks about clients, competition, investment, risk and freedom to organise your work.

A one-off side job may fall outside KVK's business criteria. The income can still be taxable, and VAT rules can still apply.

Most starters choose an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship). The registration steps below are for that legal form.

An eenmanszaak has no UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) registration duty.

An eenmanszaak can have several activities, trade names and employees. You remain personally liable for its debts and claims. A bv (private limited company) has its own legal rights and duties and more formalities. You can still be personally liable, for example through improper management or a personal guarantee. Choose your legal form by comparing risk, expected profit and costs.

Register from 1 week before your start date to no later than 1 week afterwards. You can attend the identity check up to 3 months before starting. If you attend early, KVK makes the registration official from 1 week before your start date.

Complete these steps in order:

1. Prepare the KVK form using DigiD (digital government login).
2. Book an appointment at a KVK office.
3. Attend with valid identification and the address documents KVK requests.
4. Pay the one-off registration fee of €85.15 in 2026. This fee is a deductible business cost.

To complete the form, you need a BSN (citizen service number), a trade name and a description of your activities. You normally need a Dutch visiting address. If it differs from your home address, bring a lease, purchase contract or signed permission to use it. A border-region resident may use a foreign address with proof of regular business activity in the Netherlands.

KVK sends your details to the Belastingdienst (Tax Administration) (External site, opens in a new tab). It assesses your VAT status within 10 working days. If it registers you for VAT, it sends two numbers by post: a btw-id (VAT identification number) and an omzetbelastingnummer (turnover-tax number). Record your KVK number and keep the tax letters.

Use the btw-id on invoices and public business communications. Use the omzetbelastingnummer only with the Belastingdienst.

VAT status and income-tax entrepreneur status are separate assessments.

Agree the work, price and payment before starting. A quote or assignment contract should match how you actually work. With a platform or intermediary, identify who contracts with you. Check who accepts the work. Check who pays you. Check who directs the daily work. Different parties can have different roles. An intermediary does not remove employment-status risk.

Include all these points in your agreement:

• Name the parties, the work, what you will deliver, how the client will accept it, and the start and end dates. Define extra work.
• State the hourly rate or fixed price, expenses and whether prices include VAT. Set the invoice schedule and payment term.
• State who owns the work you create. Cover confidentiality, personal-data duties and who supplies equipment or access.
• Set liability limits, required insurance, cancellation and termination rights. Agree how to resolve disputes and which country’s law applies.
• Describe independence, substitution and business risk only where they apply in practice. Contract wording cannot override the daily work.

General terms are optional. If you use them, give the client a readable copy they can save before agreeing. Filing the terms with KVK or a court alone is insufficient.

For Dutch B2B (business-to-business) work, the payment term is 30 days if you agree no term. An agreed term is normally at most 60 days. A longer term needs justification that neither party is harmed. A large company must pay an SME (small or medium-sized enterprise) or self-employed supplier within 30 days. After the deadline, statutory commercial interest and a minimum €40 collection charge can apply. Consumer collection has different notice rules.

In 2026, the standard Dutch VAT rate is 21%. The 9% rate and exemptions apply to listed goods or qualifying services. Healthcare and education have exemption conditions. Check whether your service meets them.

The VAT treatment of foreign work depends on the service and client. For many services to an EU business, the client pays the VAT through reverse charging. Verify its VAT number and put both VAT IDs and ‘btw verlegd’ (VAT reverse-charged) on the invoice. You usually also report the service in an ICP (intra-Community transactions) statement.

Services to foreign private customers usually attract Dutch VAT. Digital, property, event and other services have exceptions. Use the Belastingdienst VAT tool for international services (External site, opens in a new tab) to check the client country and service before invoicing.

A full invoice normally needs all these details:

• Your legal name or a trade name registered with your address and town. Include your address, btw-id and, if registered, KVK number. Add the client’s name and address.
• A unique sequential invoice number and the invoice date.
• A clear description and quantity or extent of the service, plus the supply date or the date of an advance payment.
• The net amount and unit price where applicable, VAT rate and VAT amount. Show separate net amounts for supplies with different VAT rates. For exempt or reverse-charged work, use the required wording.
• The client’s VAT ID where required for an EU business transaction.

Also show the total and add the agreed payment term and bank details so the client can pay. Different invoice rules can apply, for example to simplified invoices or foreign transactions.

Issue the invoice by the 15th day of the month after supply. Under the factuurstelsel (invoice accounting system), the invoice date normally decides the VAT period, even if the client has not paid. If you invoice late, report VAT in the period when the invoice was due. Under the kasstelsel (cash accounting system), VAT follows payments received. Check which system applies to your business.

File in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk (business tax portal) (External site, opens in a new tab) for the period in your tax letter, usually quarterly. For a Dutch-established business, monthly and quarterly returns and payments are due by the last day of the next month. An annual return for 2026 is due by 31 March 2027. Check your assigned deadline.

File a nil return when invited, even with no turnover. The Belastingdienst sends no payment request after your return. Use the payment reference and pay by the deadline. Continue requested returns until the portal or a letter says the duty has ended.

In 2026, the KOR (small-business VAT scheme) is optional for a Dutch-established VAT entrepreneur. Your relevant turnover must be no more than €20,000 in both the calendar year you apply and the previous calendar year. The Belastingdienst KOR conditions (External site, opens in a new tab) explain which turnover counts.

To join the KOR, follow these steps:

1. Wait for both VAT numbers.
2. Apply in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk at least 4 weeks before the intended start.
3. Keep filing returns until the confirmation letter gives the start date.

Participation can start no earlier than the next quarter or return period.

Under the KOR, you normally charge no VAT and file no regular VAT returns. You cannot deduct VAT on purchases. You may need to adjust VAT previously deducted on investments.

Normal VAT rules still apply to sales of land or buildings used in your business, or rights over them. The same applies to new or nearly new means of transport supplied to another EU country. An occasional VAT return may also be required. Check the Belastingdienst occasional VAT return guidance (External site, opens in a new tab). If a return is required, request it yourself in writing from your tax office after the relevant quarter.

If a transaction takes annual turnover above €20,000, VAT applies to that whole transaction. Leave the KOR immediately. To leave voluntarily, apply at least 4 weeks before the start of the return period when you want to leave. After leaving, you cannot rejoin for the rest of that calendar year or the next one.

For an eenmanszaak, profit is turnover minus allowable business costs. KVK registration and VAT status do not automatically make you an income-tax entrepreneur. The Belastingdienst considers independence, continuity, expected profit, business size, clients and business risk.

If your work is neither employment nor an income-tax business, declare it as inkomsten uit overig werk (income from other activities). Related costs may still be deductible. You cannot claim entrepreneur deductions or the mkb-winstvrijstelling (small-business profit exemption).

Deduct the business part of an expense. Private spending cannot reduce business profit. Split mixed telephone, travel and equipment costs between business and private use. A home workspace is deductible only in limited cases. For a lasting asset, you may need to spread the deduction over several years. VAT recovery is a separate calculation from the income-tax deduction.

Business profit or income from other activities can also produce a separate Zvw assessment. In 2026, the contribution rate is 4.85%, with maximum contribution income of €79,409. The tax return calculates the base and accounts for other income. You can request or change provisional income-tax and Zvw assessments during the year.

The income-tax guide for newcomers explains box 1 (income from work and home) and migration-year returns.

In 2026, the euro deductions reduce profit first. The 12.7% mkb-winstvrijstelling applies to profit after entrepreneur deductions. Check each relief’s conditions in the table.

The zelfstandigenaftrek is normally limited to your profit before entrepreneur deductions. This limit does not apply if you qualify for startersaftrek. You can use an unused amount in the next 9 years, but only against profit above that year’s zelfstandigenaftrek.

The urencriterium (hours test) requires at least 1,225 business hours in the calendar year. Starting mid-year does not reduce the requirement. Real, recorded administration, finding clients and product development can count. Keep a dated hours record that shows what you did.

Normally, more than half your total working time must go to the business. This second test is waived if you were not an entrepreneur in at least 1 of the previous 5 years.

In 2026, the tax benefit from entrepreneur deductions and mkb-winstvrijstelling is capped at a rate of 37.56%.

Example: in 2026, a qualifying starter below AOW age has €40,000 profit before entrepreneur deductions. Subtract €1,200 zelfstandigenaftrek and €2,123 startersaftrek to leave €36,677. The 12.7% mkb-winstvrijstelling is about €4,658. Taxable profit is about €32,019. These deductions reduce taxable profit by about €7,981. They do not save that amount in tax. Your actual tax depends on rates, credits and other income.

Schijnzelfstandigheid (false self-employment) means using a contractor label for work that is legally employment. The Wet DBA (Employment Relationships Deregulation Act) concerns the client’s and contractor’s responsibilities. The assessment considers all the circumstances together.

The assessment considers all these factors:

• The nature and duration of the work, and who controls how and when you do it.
• How your work fits into the client’s organisation and whether you must perform it personally.
• The way you reached the agreement, how pay is set and paid, and your earnings.
• Your business risk and how you operate as an entrepreneur outside this assignment.

No single factor decides the result. A high rate, several clients, a bv or a substitution clause alone cannot establish self-employment. With a platform or intermediary, examine who directs the work, including the end client. Identify which party is your legal client.

The Belastingdienst resumed normal enforcement on 1 January 2025. Corrections normally reach back no earlier than that date. Malicious conduct or ignored instructions can lead to corrections for earlier periods, generally up to 5 years back. In 2026, the Belastingdienst can impose culpability fines for deliberate or grossly negligent breaches. It says it imposes no default fines in 2026.

The Belastingdienst has assessed no new model agreements since 6 September 2024. Approved agreements valid on that date remain usable through 31 December 2029, even if they show an earlier expiry. The actual work must match the agreement.

The proposed Zelfstandigenwet (Self-Employment Act) is not yet in force. A separate law on a legal presumption of employment for low hourly rates has been adopted. It takes effect on 31 December 2026.

If your client controls your work in its organisation and you carry little business risk, check whether the work is employment. Discuss a clear result, freedom to decide how and when you work, and real business risk. Review all the facts again with your client.

Freelance income does not automatically come with employee insurance or pension cover. Include the cost of cover in your rate before comparing it with an employee’s gross hourly pay. Check each risk below.

• Sickness and disability: compare private AOV (disability insurance) with voluntary sickness and WIA (long-term work-disability) cover through UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) (External site, opens in a new tab).
• Liability: business liability insurance covers injury or property damage. Professional indemnity covers financial loss from a professional error. Cover may be required by your profession, sector or client.
• Pregnancy: qualifying self-employed people can claim ZEZ (self-employed maternity benefit).
• Low income: ask your gemeente (municipality) whether you qualify for Bbz (support for self-employed people). The municipality assesses your circumstances and business.
• Unemployment: freelance assignments normally do not build WW (unemployment benefit) rights. Keep an emergency reserve and check your termination and notice terms.
• Pension: AOW generally builds at 2% for each insured year. A newcomer may therefore receive less than a full pension. A sector pension scheme can be compulsory. Otherwise, consider an annuity or other private provision.

AOV is generally voluntary. UWV cover depends on your prior insurance. Normally, apply within 13 weeks after compulsory employee insurance ends.

UWV’s usual route requires compulsory sickness and disability cover in the year before you become self-employed, with a break of at most 60 days. If you remain partly employed, you can apply at any time, with at least 3 years of prior compulsory cover. Check your route with UWV when leaving or reducing a job.

Compulsory basic disability insurance is still a proposal. The Wet BAZ (Basic Disability Insurance for Self-Employed People Act) bill went to the Tweede Kamer (House of Representatives) on 23 March 2026. Its rules and start date are not fixed. Keep the cover you need while the proposal is considered.

Freelancing does not remove your duty to have Dutch basic health insurance when Dutch insurance rules apply to you. The health-insurance guide explains how to check your duty, including cross-border situations.

Manage your business records, banking and deadlines:

• Keep invoices, contracts, bank records and the underlying business records for at least 7 years. Keep records concerning immovable property and records under the OSS (one-stop shop) Union VAT scheme for 10 years. Keep digital records digitally, with the software needed to read and search them.
• Check your bank’s account conditions. An eenmanszaak has no legal duty to use a business bank account, but a bank may prohibit business use of a personal account. Separate banking helps you track VAT, costs and unpaid invoices.
• Track VAT periods, ICP statements where relevant, annual income tax, provisional assessments and Zvw. Also track insurance renewals and contract end dates. Software or an adviser is optional; business fees can be deductible.

Close an eenmanszaak in this order:

1. Finish or transfer assignments.
2. Collect unpaid invoices.
3. Settle debts.
4. Decide what happens to stock and assets.
5. Check notice periods, outstanding claims and cover for later claims.
6. End or adjust contracts and insurance.
7. Deregister with KVK.

KVK informs the Belastingdienst after deregistration. Keep filing every return requested in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk. Wait for the letter about the final VAT return. If assets with previously deducted VAT become private, VAT may be due on their current value.

Report closure results, including possible stakingswinst (profit from ending a business), in the closure-year income-tax return.

Keep records for the full retention period.

Ask your bank how long the account can remain open after deregistration. Download statements and save the final records before closing access.

Contract clauses cannot fix work that operates as employment. Check who sets hours, methods, location and leave. Record how the work fits into a team. Record who bears rework and non-payment risk. Check whether substitution is real. Change the actual arrangement together or switch to employment. The employment-contracts guide explains the employee protections that then apply.

Check that the legal client received a valid invoice. Check whether they dispute acceptance of the work. Send a written reminder, keep delivery evidence and follow your contract. For Dutch business debt, statutory commercial interest and a minimum €40 collection charge can apply from the day after the deadline. For a consumer, send a notice stating the collection costs. Allow its 14-day payment period to end before charging those costs. Get advice before escalating a disputed or cross-border claim.

Update your books and profit estimate. Reserve VAT separately and request provisional income-tax and Zvw assessments. Change the estimate when profit or other income changes. If you cannot pay on time, contact the Belastingdienst before the deadline. You must still file the return.

You must have the permission required for the proposed work before accepting or invoicing it. For Ukrainian refugees without a self-employed residence permit, the client must obtain a TWV. Ask IND which route applies. A KVK number, contract or platform account cannot override your residence-card endorsement. If the work is legally employment, your client may need the employee-permit route.

For tax, permit or employment-status questions, ask the relevant authority or a qualified adviser before your first invoice.

• Opening a Dutch bank account
• Income tax for newcomers