In the Netherlands, Budget Day, known as Prinsjesdag or ‘Prince’s Day,’ takes place on the third Tuesday of September. During this event, the King delivers the Speech from the Throne, which officially marks the opening of the parliamentary year. The speech outlines the goverment’s main plans and priorities for the upcoming year.

Third Tuesday in September

Initially, Budget Day (Prince’s Day) was held on the first Monday in November, and later moved to the third Monday in October. However, this schedule didn’t provide Parliament with sufficient time to finalize the national budget before the January 1 deadline. As a result, in 1848, Budget Day was rescheduled to the third Monday in September. Not everyone, however agreed with this change! Members of parliament living outside The Hague needed to begin their journey on Sunday to arrive on time, which was particularly problematic for Protestant politicians who objected to traveling on a Sunday. Consequently, in 1887, Budget Day was moved to the third Tuesday in September.

Bit of history

The name Prince’s Day (Prinsjesdag) originates from the 18th century during the time of Prince William V, whose birthday on March 8th was celebrated as Prince’s Day. During the French occupation, supporters of the House of Orange-Nassau expressed their loyalty by continuing to celebrate this day.

The exact reason why the name Prinsjesdag was later associated with the opening of Parliament remains unclear. Despite this, it continues to be a day for people to show their affection for the royal family.

Budget day

So what actually  happens on Budget Day? On Budget Day, the King will travel in the Glass Coach to the Royal Theatre in The Hague, where ministers, state secretaries, members of parliament, and other guests will be gathered.  Since 1904, the head of state (the King or Queen) has traditionally delivered the Speech from the Throne in the Hall of Knights, outlining the government’s main plans for the upcoming year. Following the speech, the Minister of Finance presents the House of Representatives with a summary of the costs associated with the plans announced in the Speech from the Throne. This year however, like the year before, the speech will be in the Royal Theatre due to renovations at the Binnenhof.

Would you like to know what the impact of the decisions of Budget day will be on your taxes? Then contact us now!

Suurmond Tax consultants

Untaxing taxes!

New country, new tax system. Even if taxes aren’t the first thing you think about when moving country, they can become pretty important soon enough. Here is a brief overview of the Dutch tax system in the Netherlands, and how it works.

In what circumstances do I have to pay tax?

In the Netherlands, you have to pay taxes if you earn income while living in the Netherlands. So even if you are temporarily residing in the Netherlands as an expat, if you earn income from abroad, this will have to be declared in the Dutch tax return. Even if you don’t live in the Netherlands but if you work in the Netherlands, you will be taxed.

What kind of taxes are there?

Income tax

The first and most common tax is income tax. This means you declare your income in an annual tax return, which is called ‘aangifte inkomstenbelasting’. The deadline for this tax return is the first of May of the following year. If you are employed by a company, your income tax is automatically withheld from your salary by your employer. This withholding is known as wage tax and is included within payroll tax. However, if you are self-employed in the Netherlands, you are responsible for calculating and paying your income tax through the annual tax return process.

If you need to file a Dutch tax return, the Tax Office will send you a ‘aangiftebrief’, inviting you to file a tax return, for the previous year. If you don’t receive a letter, it is either because you don’t have to file a tax return, or because the Belastingdienst did not think it necessary to complete a form. However, sometimes interesting tax deductions can be applied and save you money, wherefore it is wise to (sometimes)  file a tax return on your own initiative. Read more here.

Income tax

Payroll tax, withheld from an employee’s salary by the employer, includes wage tax and national insurance contributions for pensions, unemployment, and other benefits. This monthly deduction saves employees from paying income tax later.

VAT tax

This is known as BTW or omzetbelasting in the Netherlands. All businesses, except certain foundations and associations, must include BTW in their pricing. The three BTW rates are 0%, 9%, and the most common, 21%. The BTW is declared via the ‘BTW aangifte’, which is to be filed each quarter.

Corporate tax

This is called vennootschapsbelasting. This is for businesses that are in the Netherlands and also to those that receive income from the Netherlands and are established abroad. On kvk.nl is a useful income tax calculator, so you can see what the effects of the 2024 have on your income.

Corporate tax

If you live abroad and the testator lived in the Netherlands, this means you have to pay Dutch inheritance tax, by filing an inheritance tax return. The other way round though, no inheritance tax has to be paid in the Netherlands. Read more here.

Corporate tax

If you have to pay gift tax, this will have to be filed in a separate gift tax return. There are many situations however, when you don’t need to pay gift tax. For example, if you receive a gift from abroad, and if the gift is from a non-resident or a resident that has emigrated more than a year ago, no gift tax has to be paid. If the gift is received from a person with the Dutch nationality, different rules apply. Read more here.

Transfer tax

Interestingly, there is no capital gains tax in the Netherlands yet! Transfer tax is also known as overdrachtsbelasting, which has to be paid when you buy a house or a department. Finally there are taxes such as gambling tax, motor vehicle tax and import tax.

Tax help

When you are new in the Netherlands, or your income tax return is more complex if for example you have assets abroad, a house in the Netherlands or you need to file an M-form, it is wise to hire a Dutch tax advisor or tax accountant. We would be happy to help you with your taxes!

Suurmond Tax consultants

Untaxing taxes!

We use Secudoc to guarantee the safe transfer of larger files and documents. If you want to send your files via Secudoc, please send us a request by email. You will then receive an email with a link that leads to the Secudoc upload page. After you upload your files, we can download your uploaded files only by using two-step verification. This provision is especially practical with a larger number of attachments or large files that cannot be sent in one e-mail.

Entrepreneurs can apply for the small business and/or starters deductions and research and development deduction. To be considered for these deductions, you will have to work as an entrepreneur for at least 1.225 hours a year. In case you have a part time employment besides your own business, more hours need to be spent on your enterprise than the part time job. If it is not altogether clear that you make the required number of hours, then make sure you register the hours related to your business.

The investment deductions, SME profit exemption as well as the depreciation facilities are also possible without the hours criterion. For the energy and environmental facilities, as well as the RDA (research and development) you have to make an application before the expense is made. For more information about thresholds, ceilings and criteria, please contact us.

Businesses in the Netherlands are liable to various taxes with each having their own characteristics. The main ones are turnover tax (VAT), Wages Tax, Income Tax and Corporate Income Tax. We can provide business tax advice for entrepeneurs in the Netherlands.

(Corporate) Income Tax

A sole trader or partnership is liable to Income Tax, whereas a limited company is submitted to Corporate Income Tax. Both taxes have their own tax facilities and deduction possibilities.

Our office will complete the annual Dutch corporate tax return in the most advantageous way and we will identify further tax-saving opportunities. Our office is dedicated to reducing the tax burden of your enterprise as much as possible. The corporate tax return will be submitted through our accountants and tax software, which enables us to communicate efficiently with the Tax Office.

VAT

In the Netherlands, apart from the tax returns on the profit made within a business, also turnover tax returns will have to be submitted in order to declare the claimable and payable/due VAT (BTW in Dutch). Also depending on the size of the business, this can be done on monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. For international transactions within the EU, also an ICP form will have to be submitted similarly. Read more about VAT in the Netherlands here.

Wages tax/Payroll

If your business has got employees you will need to set up a payroll administration to make sure the correct amounts for Wages Tax and social security premiums are withheld and paid. The Wages Tax return will have to be submitted monthly. This is also required for the director/owner of a B.V. company, who is regarded as an employee of this business. We can take care of the payroll administration together with the tax requirements and also provide advice for your employment issues.

In your business a lot of international transactions take place and you would like to know how this affects the turnover tax (BTW). You are starting up a business and need tax advice on the available Dutch business structures. Your company based in another country does business in The Netherlands and you want to make sure whether it is liable to any Dutch taxation. You want to employ people from abroad and would like to confirm that they qualify for the 30% ruling. This is where our business tax advice can help you.

In the immensely complex international tax legislation often more questions come up than you care to recount. Whether you have a brief question or an extensive fiscal problem, our experts will provide you with an answer. Best results are obtained if you contact us for tax advice as early as possible when the situation still can be optimized.

For international companies not only Dutch tax law is relevant, but also tax laws in other nations and international tax treaties. This causes complicated situations, but at the same time opens up opportunities for international tax advice and tax planning. In order to avoid double taxation for example it is important that participation exemption applies to the income earned from the foreign subsidiaries.

Do you have a dispute with the Tax Office and do you need professional assistance? J.C. Suurmond & zn. Tax consultants does not hesitate to take over your case and defend your interests by appeal to the Tax Office and if necessary up to the High Court.

Example situations of business tax advice

If you are thinking of starting a business in The Netherlands many legal and fiscal aspects will have to be taken into account. Decisions taken when starting a business often have long-term consequences – either positively or negatively. International business structures need careful tax planning in order to design the most tax efficient structure. Therefore it is important to acquire professional advice. You can contact us for advice.

Our advisors can advise you on the best way of starting a business in the Netherlands and can support you with:

• assisting with incorporation and registering with the Chamber of Commerce;
• submitting the necessary forms to the Tax Office and other authorities;
• drafting a business plan and organising the accounts;
• deciding which business type you want to use, for example sole trader, partnership or limited liability company, which each have their own legal characteristics and tax facilities.

Corporate tax rates

The business investment climate is very favourable in The Netherlands. The corporate tax income rate for example is only 20 to 25%. Research & development projects profit from the innovation box, with a corporate tax rate down to 5%. The Netherlands has got one of the largest tax treaty networks, thus avoiding double taxation with many countries. The Dutch participation exemption causes dividends from qualifying shareholdings to be enjoyed tax free and the fiscal unity regime makes it possible to freely offset profits and losses among group members. Maybe yet more important is the beneficial fiscal climate towards international companies.

Corporate tax facilities

The corporate tax facilities together make international business structures very tax efficient. On top of all this there is the 30% tax ruling for expatriates recruited from abroad, which makes 30% of their income tax free along with other advantages.

Correct financials start with keeping good financial accounts. Therefore it is important that your daily financial transactions are processed correctly. Our office can support you with this or take over the complete accounting.

Annual reports

In the annual financial report all the accounting details are assembled. The information from the annual accounts has to be processed in the (corporate) income tax return. The results also give useful accounting information to the management of the business. The figures can be analysed and compared with previous years, in view of making financial decisions for future projections and budgets. For B.V.’s in the Netherlands for example the financial report will also have to be submitted to the Chamber of Commerce for publication.

Interim accounting reports

Apart from the annual accounts, interim figures will help you to have an up to date financial insight in your business. Only with accurate financial information will you be able to take right important decisions. If you only find out your performance after the year, you may be too late to change the  course. With better accounting and financial management you will achieve better results.  We can help you to analyse both opportunities and bottlenecks.