How to file your tax returns when self-employed in the Netherlands

First, you’ll need to go to the Tax and Customs Administration website for entrepreneurs

Unfortunately, tax declaration forms are only available in Dutch. However, the Tax and Customs Administration website does offer some information in English.

If you have not earned or spent any money in the past quarter from which you can reclaim VAT, tick the “nee” (no) box. If you have earned money in the last quarter or if you’ve bought a product or service from which you can reclaim VAT, click on “ja”

(yes). In the next steps we will assume that you clicked “yes”.

Fill in the name of the contact person the Tax and Customs Administration can contact to request more information regarding the declaration and click on “Akkoord” (Approve). The contact person can be a different person from the one filling and signing the declaration. As you’re self-employed you can simply enter your own name and telephone number.

If a section doesn’t apply to you, you don’t have to fill in anything. Only fill in the fields that apply to you.

1a, b and c. In section 1a you fill in the deliveries/services that were taxed with a high rate. In 1b fill in the ones taxed with a low rate. And lastly, in 1c fill in the deliveries/services taxed with other rates. In the right column fill in the VAT and in the left column fill in the turnover (excluding VAT) of the goods and services that you supply against this rate in the Netherlands.

If you’d like to know which goods and services are classed as high or low rates, go to the VAT tariffs page on the Tax and Customs Administration website.

1d. Are there certain company assets that are now only used privately? It’s possible that you deducted the VAT when you purchased these goods.

When these goods are taken out of stock and used privately, you will have to calculate the VAT on these costs and fill them in in 1d.

1e. For 1e you fill in the services for which no VAT was calculated.

3a, b and c. When you generate turnover from abroad, you do not charge VAT. In 3a, 3b and 3c you will fill in the turnover for which no VAT has been charged.

When you purchase services from abroad, such as advertisements on Facebook or the hosting of your website through Google Cloud, the VAT will usually be shifted.

4a and b. So in step 4a and 4b you fill in these services and for the VAT you fill in the same VAT that you enter for the “voorbelasting” (input tax) in step 10. This means that you pay no VAT for these costs.

Now finally, for the tenth and last step of your declaration! Here you’ll find the final overview of the quarter. 5a is a complete overview of all the sections you filled in during the previous steps, it’s automatically calculated and you can’t change it in this screen.

5b. In 5b you fill in all the VAT that you want to reclaim. You can calculate this by looking at all the invoices that you have paid. On each invoice you’ll find the VAT amount. By adding together all of these amounts you’ll end up with your total input tax.

5d. In 5d you can fill in a reduction for the last quarter of 2019.

To calculate your VAT-reduction, you use the amount of VAT that you would have paid without the “kleineondernemersregeling (KOR)” (small business scheme). This amount is the VAT (subheading 5a of the declaration) minus the input tax (subheading 5b of the declaration).

In this overview you can see the corresponding VAT-reduction:

So if you have to pay less than €1,883 VAT per year, you’re eligible for a reduction. You can fill in this reduction in 5d.

The old KOR expired on January 1st 2020. This means that the old KOR can no longer be applied to declarations made from the 1st of January 2020 onwards.

Always make sure to declare your taxes on time! If you don’t do this, you’ll receive a hefty fine. And you’ll have done all your hard work for nothing.