Starting a sole proprietorship

Before you go to the KvK

Think of a business name. It has to fit what you do and must not give a false impression — don't call your business 'international' if you don't do business abroad — and you don't use brand names or existing trade names of others. Whether a name already exists, you check with the KvK's Naamchecker.

Choose your legal form. Anyone starting alone usually chooses the sole proprietorship: there is no separate company next to you, the profit is your income, and you are liable with your private assets for the debts of the business. A bv involves more, and that is the moment to talk to an accountant.

The registration itself

You fill in the registration form online: your personal details, your business contact details, a description of what you will do and in which sector, the business name and the legal form. Then you book an appointment at a KvK office online. That appointment is required: without an appointment and without a valid identity document you cannot register. If all your details are correct, you get your KvK number straight away during the visit — otherwise it comes by post in the week you start — and the KvK gives your business an SBI code that matches your activity.

You can register at three moments: no later than one week after you started, one week before you start, or earlier — then the registration becomes final one week before your start date, without you having to come back. If you already started working for your business before your appointment, give the date you started during the appointment. Registration costs €85.15 (2026); you receive the invoice by email.

What the Dutch Belastingdienst does next

You don't need to register with the Belastingdienst: after your registration the KvK passes on your details. The Belastingdienst then decides whether you are an entrepreneur for VAT — then you charge VAT, file VAT returns and deduct the VAT on your purchases — and whether you are an entrepreneur for income tax, which gives you access to the entrepreneur's deductions and the starter schemes.

You get two numbers, and the difference matters. The VAT identification number (btw-id) is for your customers: it goes on your invoices and your website. The VAT tax number (omzetbelastingnummer) you only use with the Belastingdienst itself; for a freelancer its first nine digits are your citizen service number (BSN), so you never put that number on an invoice.

A Dutch VAT number without registering with the KvK?

You only get a Dutch VAT number without a KvK registration if you don't belong in the Handelsregister, for example because the Handelsregister does not count your activity as a business, or because you are a foreign entrepreneur without an establishment in the Netherlands. Anyone starting an ordinary sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak) in the Netherlands registers with the KvK; the KvK passes on your details, and the Dutch Belastingdienst then sends you your VAT ID and your VAT tax number. You don't apply for a VAT number separately. Not everything belongs in the Handelsregister: a sole proprietorship whose activities the Handelsregister does not count as a business does not register with the KvK, but registers directly with the Dutch Belastingdienst using the form 'Opgaaf startende onderneming (niet ingeschreven in het Handelsregister)'. That registration takes at most 10 working days.

Two situations are separate. If you are an entrepreneur abroad and have to file Dutch VAT returns, you register with the Dutch Belastingdienst using the form 'Aanmelding Onderneming buitenland'. And if you don't have to register with the KvK, are not yet registered as a VAT entrepreneur and your turnover is at most € 2,200 per calendar year, you don't have to register as a VAT entrepreneur: that is the registration threshold (registratiedrempel). You then charge no VAT and deduct none either. Once a sale or service takes your turnover above € 2,200, the threshold no longer applies from that sale or service on, and you must register as a VAT entrepreneur after all.

Your records from the first invoice

From your first invoice you must keep records. Your invoice has to meet the Dutch invoice requirements, you keep your records for seven years, and you file a VAT return every period — for most starters per quarter, no later than the last day of the month after the quarter. If you stay under €20,000 turnover a year, you can choose the small business scheme (KOR). And track your hours from day one: the hours criterion of 1,225 hours a year does not scale down if you start halfway through the year. Each of these subjects has its own explanation in this knowledge base.

In booxx you begin by creating your administration: legal form, start date, and whether you charge VAT or fall under the small business scheme. After that your ledger is ready and you can send your first invoice, in Dutch, English, Polish, Hungarian or Romanian. You can try it for 90 days without a payment method — enough for your first quarter and your first VAT return.

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