What it costs to run a Dutch BV.
Running a company in the Netherlands means filing annual accounts with the Chamber of Commerce, a corporate tax return, and payroll taxes every month. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) can keep those calendars and file on them for you. For companies running their own entity in the Netherlands, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed clients get 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes, service terms adjusted to suit you within reason, and real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters.
Three calendars
Running a BV is three separate clocks
People expect one annual filing and one bill. A Dutch BV has obligations to two bodies running at different speeds, and each fails in its own way.
The KVK wants your annual accounts. The tax authority wants a corporate income tax return once a year, payroll tax returns every month once you employ anybody, and VAT returns quarterly or monthly depending on your size. The monthly payroll filing is the one that surprises people, because it is not annual at all.
None of it pauses because a quarter was quiet. A BV that did not trade still files, and directors carry personal responsibility for filing on time.
| Filing | Who to | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Annual accounts | Kamer van Koophandel | Annually |
| Corporate income tax return | Belastingdienst | Annually |
| Payroll tax return | Belastingdienst | Monthly, once you employ anybody |
| VAT return | Belastingdienst | Quarterly or monthly |
The rate you actually pay
The 25.8% figure is not what a small BV pays
This is the most misquoted number in Dutch business tax. Summaries print 25.8% and stop, and for a company earning under 200,000 euro that is simply the wrong rate.
Dutch corporate income tax runs in two bands. The first 200,000 euro of profit is taxed at 19%, and only the excess is taxed at 25.8%. A BV with 150,000 euro of profit never touches the top rate at all.
That structure matters for a small subsidiary more than almost anything else on this page, because it is the difference between modelling a 25.8% cost and a 19% one on the profit you actually expect to make.
What you actually pay
The registry fee is once. The accountant is every year.
The KVK registration fee is paid once, at the start. There is no recurring state charge equivalent to an annual return fee in the way the UK and Ireland levy one, so the running cost of a Dutch BV is almost entirely professional work.
Market estimate
€1,500 to €4,000 a yearWhat the market charges for accounts, the tax return and monthly payroll filings on a small BV. Not a Teamed price.
Your options
Who can keep it running for you
Four kinds of help can keep a company in the Netherlands running, and the right one depends on whether it employs people.
You can file the annual accounts yourself with the KvK and the tax returns with the Belastingdienst. That suits a founder with no staff and the time to track each deadline.
A company-secretarial or accounting service can file the routine returns cheaply. That suits a company that employs nobody.
A law firm or corporate-services firm is the right call for complex group structures and tax planning, where the advice is worth more than the paperwork.
For companies that will employ people in the Netherlands, Teamed is the best choice. With Teamed, you get one system from your first EOR hire to your own entity, a designated person who has done this before and Ted, Teamed's AI agent, to answer questions from your live employment data. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in the Netherlands.
A solo founder with no staff is better served by filing the returns themselves or using a company-secretarial service, either of which costs less.
Worth saying plainly
This is the cost people forget when they compare
The notary fee is a one-off and it is the number everyone remembers. The accounts, the corporate tax return and the monthly payroll filings are the part that repeats, and they are what decide whether owning the BV was worth it.
If the annual running cost looks heavy against the size of your team here, that is useful information rather than a problem. An employer of record carries all of it inside one monthly fee.
Teamed's employer of record in the Netherlands is from €560 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency pairing and one invoice at the end of it. Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work, not a ticket queue.
Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it for the Netherlands.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, move your people across, and keep it running.
GEMO is how Teamed forms your company and keeps it running, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
In the Netherlands that matters a little more than elsewhere, because Teamed employs through its own local entity rather than a partner. The people who would run your company are the people already running ours.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Questions about running a Dutch BV
Is there an annual registry fee?
No recurring KVK charge of the kind the UK and Ireland levy for an annual return. The registration fee is paid once. The recurring cost is professional work.
Will we pay 19% or 25.8%?
Both, in bands. The first 200,000 euro of profit is taxed at 19% and only the excess at 25.8%. A BV earning under that threshold never reaches the top rate.
How often is payroll filed?
Monthly, once you employ anybody. That is separate from the annual corporate tax return and the quarterly VAT filing.
Do we have to publish accounts?
Annual accounts are filed with the KVK. What is publicly visible depends on the size of the company, with smaller companies filing an abridged version.
What if the BV did not trade?
It still files. A dormant company has fewer numbers to report but the same obligations, and the directors remain responsible for them.
Sources
- Belastingdienst, vennootschapsbelasting rates and thresholds
- KVK, filing annual accounts
- Belastingdienst, payroll tax returns for employers
The rest of the Netherlands guides
Looking for a job in Netherlands yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
