International freelancers
Freelancing here, without the Dutch paperwork.
Bookkeeping, VAT and tax for independent professionals, whether you work through an eenmanszaak or your own BV. One fixed monthly fee, everything in English, and someone who tells you what is coming before it is due.
Freelancer is not a legal form
In the Netherlands you freelance either through an eenmanszaak or through a BV. Both are normal, and the right one changes as you earn more. We work with both, and we say something when the switch starts to pay.
What the Netherlands asks of you
None of it is difficult once you know it. The problem is that nobody tells you, and the letters explaining it arrive in Dutch.
VAT every quarter, on time
Four returns a year, each with its own deadline, whichever legal form you use. Late filing costs money before anyone has looked at whether the numbers were right.
A tax return that depends on your legal form
With an eenmanszaak your business and private situation are filed together in one return. With a BV there are two: corporate tax for the company and income tax for you.
Invoices that meet Dutch requirements
What has to be on them, what happens with foreign clients, and when you charge no VAT at all. Get it wrong and you find out years later.
Records kept for seven years
Not just the invoices. Bank statements, receipts and the reasoning behind what you deducted.
The fork in the road
Eenmanszaak, or your own BV?
Most people start as an eenmanszaak because it is simple and cheap to run. At some level of profit that stops being the cheaper option.
These are examples of topics we may review. Any advice depends on your individual circumstances.
Eenmanszaak
- One tax return covering business and private
- Entrepreneur deductions, if you meet the conditions
- No notary, no annual accounts to deposit
- You are personally liable for the business
Your own BV
- Corporate tax on the company, income tax on you
- A salary for yourself, through a real payroll
- Annual accounts, filed and deposited
- Needed if you want an employer here, for example for the 30% ruling
More than bookkeeping
Where freelancers leave money behind.
Bookkeeping records what happened. These are the things worth knowing before the year is over, when you can still do something about them.
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The entrepreneur deductions, and the hours behind them
With an eenmanszaak, several deductions depend on how much time you put into the business and how that is recorded. Worth knowing where you stand before the year ends, not after.
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What you buy, and when
Equipment, a laptop, a car. There are schemes for business investments, and the timing across two years is often what decides whether you benefit.
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VAT on foreign clients
Clients outside the Netherlands, digital services, customers inside and outside the EU. Each has its own treatment, and it is one of the most common mistakes we correct.
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What you take out of your own company
If you work through a BV, the mix of salary and dividend changes what you keep. It deserves a look every year rather than being set once and forgotten.
What you get
One monthly fee. No hourly surprises, no separate invoice in April.
Get your personal quote- Your bookkeeping, in English, in your own 100digital portal with an app for receipts
- VAT registration and your quarterly VAT returns
- Dutch tax letters explained: photograph them, send them over, we handle the reply
- For an eenmanszaak: your income tax return, included in the monthly fee
- For a BV: annual accounts, corporate tax, payroll and your director salary
- A named contact who knows your situation
- A yearly look at your figures before the year closes, not after
A price built around your business
Your legal form, revenue, invoice volume, bank accounts and payroll determine your fixed monthly fee. Answer eleven questions and receive your personal quote within 15 minutes.
Questions we get a lot
- Is tax advice included in the monthly fee?
- Yes. Every package includes a number of advice hours per year. Only special situations fall outside that, and those are quoted before we start, so you are never surprised by an invoice.
- I freelance through my own BV. Is this page for me?
- Yes. Freelancer is a way of working, not a legal form. We handle both, and the way we work with you is the same. If you want the detail on annual accounts, corporate tax and director salary, the BV owners page goes deeper.
- Should I be a sole proprietorship or a BV?
- It depends on your profit, what you take out of the business, whether you need an employer here and how much risk you carry. There is a level of profit where a BV starts to be worth its extra cost and admin. We will tell you when you are approaching it instead of waiting for you to ask.
- Is my income tax return really included?
- For a sole proprietorship without complications, yes, on a subscription of at least twelve months. If you work through a BV your personal return is quoted alongside the subscription, because it is genuinely separate work. Your quote will say which applies to you.
- I have foreign clients. Does that complicate things?
- It changes how VAT works on those invoices, and it is one of the things we check first. Having clients abroad is normal for our clients, not an exception.
- Do I have to use specific software?
- You get your 100digital portal and the app that comes with it. You do not have to do any bookkeeping yourself, and you never have to work in Dutch.
- I am behind on my administration. Is that a problem?
- Not unusual, and not a reason to be embarrassed. Catching up is quoted separately because it depends on what is there, so we look first and tell you what it involves.