How do you set up a company in the Netherlands.
To register a company in the Netherlands, a civil-law notary executes the deed for your BV and registers it with the KvK, then you register with the tax authority. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) can arrange all of it and keep the company running for you. For companies forming their own entity in the Netherlands, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed clients get pricing with no hidden costs, service terms adjusted to suit you within reason, and one system from your first contractor to your tenth entity.
The Netherlands at a glance
The facts most people need first
The Netherlands is a common first European entity, and it is the one where the process differs most from its neighbours. You do not file a form and receive a company. A notary creates it, and that single fact shapes the cost, the timeline and who you need to talk to first.
- Usual company type
- Besloten vennootschap, a BV
- Created by
- A civil-law notary, by deed
- Registry
- Kamer van Koophandel, the KVK
- KVK registration fee
- €85.15, one off
- Share capital
- Nominal, not a meaningful barrier
- Corporate tax, first €200,000
- 19%
- Corporate tax, above that
- 25.8%
The one rule that catches people out
Can you set up a Dutch BV yourself
No, and this is the difference that surprises people arriving from the UK or Ireland, where you file online and have a company the same day. A Dutch BV comes into existence when a civil-law notary, a notaris, executes the deed of incorporation. There is no self-service route.
That changes three things at once. The cost is no longer a published registry fee, because the notary sets their own. The timeline is set by the notary's diary and their identity checks rather than by the registry. And you need to choose one before anything else happens, which is the step most people discover last.
The upside is that a lot of the diligence happens up front. The notary verifies the people, checks the name and drafts the deed, so the registration that follows is comparatively clean.
Two costs, and only one of them is published
Budget for both. Quoting only the registry fee understates a Dutch incorporation by an order of magnitude.
€85.15, once, to enter the company in the commercial register. Published, fixed, and adjusted annually for inflation.
Set by the notary rather than the state. This is the real cost of forming a BV and it varies with how standard your structure is.
Before you file
What you need to have ready
Most of the work is done before the deed, not after it. The notary will not proceed until the people and the structure are settled.
You need a company name, at least one director, and at least one shareholder, which can be the same person or a foreign parent company. Everyone involved has to be identified to the notary's satisfaction, and for people and parents outside the Netherlands that usually means legalised or apostilled documents. This is the single most common cause of delay.
You need a Dutch registered address, and you need to decide the share structure. Capital is nominal rather than a barrier, so most BVs are formed with a token amount, but who holds what and what rights attach needs deciding before the deed rather than after it.
Ultimate beneficial owners are registered separately, so have that information ready as part of the same exercise rather than treating it as an afterthought.
How it runs
How long does it take to set up a Dutch BV
A week or two is realistic once documents are in hand, and longer where shareholders sit outside the Netherlands. The registry is not the bottleneck. The notary and the paperwork behind the people are.
Choose a notary and send the structure
Who owns what, who directs, and what the company will do. Nothing moves before this.
Identity and document checks
Legalised or apostilled documents for foreign shareholders and directors. The step most likely to add a week.
The deed executed
The notary passes the deed and the BV exists from that moment.
KVK registration and beneficial owners
Entry in the commercial register for €85.15, and the ultimate beneficial owner information filed.
Tax and payroll registration
Corporate tax, then payroll taxes so you can actually pay somebody, then VAT. Payroll cannot run before this.
Setting up your own entity takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the country's registry and how fast you can open a local bank account. The Netherlands sits in the middle, and the notary sets the pace.
What it costs
How much does it cost to set up a Dutch BV
The published part is small and the unpublished part is not. €85.15 registers the company with the KVK. The notarial deed is the real expense, and because notaries set their own fees it is worth asking two or three rather than accepting the first quote.
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| KVK registration, one off | €85.15 |
| Corporate tax, first €200,000 of profit | 19% |
| Corporate tax, profit above €200,000 | 25.8% |
Market estimate
€500 to €1,500What civil-law notaries charge to form a BV, on top of the registration fee. Not a Teamed price.
Note the tax structure. The 25.8% figure quoted in most summaries is the top rate. The first €200,000 of profit is taxed at 19%, so a small BV pays considerably less than the headline suggests.
Your options
Who can set it up for you
Four kinds of help can register a company in the Netherlands, and the right one depends on whether it will employ people.
You can go straight to a civil-law notary, who executes the deed and registers the BV with the KvK. The notary step cannot be skipped, but dealing with one directly suits a founder with no staff and time to spare.
A formation agent can register the company fast and for little money. That suits a company with no employees.
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 a designated person who has done this before, real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters 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 a notary or a formation agent, either of which costs less.
Before you commit
Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit
The Netherlands is the one country in this set where incorporating is a professional engagement rather than a form. That is a reason to be sure before you start, not after.
If the team here is small, still changing shape, or you are testing whether the market works, an employer of record can be the better answer, and it is a fair one rather than a lesser one.
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 people ask before they register
Can I set up a Dutch BV myself?
No. A BV comes into existence when a civil-law notary executes the deed of incorporation, so there is no self-service route of the kind the UK and Ireland offer.
What does it cost?
85.15 euro to register with the KVK, plus the notary's own fee for the deed, which is the larger and more variable part. Notaries set their own fees, so it is worth asking more than one.
How much share capital do we need?
A nominal amount. Dutch law stopped requiring a meaningful minimum, so capital is not the barrier. The structure of who holds what matters far more.
What corporate tax rate would we pay?
19% on the first 200,000 euro of profit and 25.8% above that. Most summaries quote only the 25.8%, which overstates what a small BV pays.
How long does it take?
A week or two once documents are ready, longer where shareholders are outside the Netherlands and papers need legalising. The notary sets the pace, not the registry.
Sources
- KVK, registration fee for the commercial register
- Belastingdienst, vennootschapsbelasting rates and thresholds
- KVK, forming a besloten vennootschap and the notarial deed
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.
