NETHERLANDS

NETHERLANDS (BTW)

Netherlands  being an EU member state falls under the EU VAT regime. Member states must adopt EU VAT Directives into their own legislation.

Standard VAT Rate: 21%

Reduced VAT Rate: 6%

Registration Threshold Distance Selling: 100,000 €

EU VAT number format: NL999999999B99

Registration Threshold

Resident - There is no registration threshold      
Non resident - There is no registration threshold                            
IC Acquisitions - EUR 10,000

VAT Registration

Non-resident businesses can register for VAT purposes directly as a "foreign entrepreneur" with the tax authorities competent for non-residents " Belastingdienst / Limburg / Kantoor Buitenland" at the following address:

PO Box 2865
6401 DJ
Heerlen
The Netherlands.

VAT Compliance

Detailed rules regulate reporting requirements of Dutch transactions for Value Added Tax purposes. These include: invoice requirements, timeliness for an invoice to be issued, invoice and credit notes corrections rules, foreign currency reporting requirements and exchange rate sources, correction of previously submitted returns and accounting records that must be maintained for VAT purposes.

VAT Returns

Please note that if you have just started doing business in the Netherlands, and VAT is due, you have to register for VAT purposes. The tax inspector will then send you a form 'opgaaf gegevens startende ondernemingen' which has to be filed.

Please note that, in principal, the VAT return is filed electronically.

If the VAT payable per quarter exceeds EUR 15,000 the filing will generally be monthly, otherwise it is quarterly. However, if the VAT payable per year does not exceed EUR 1,883 only an annual return has to be filed.
The VAT return (and payment) has to be submitted one month after the end of the filing period at the latest. Corrections can be made to a VAT return by lodging an objection within six weeks after filing the return.

Furthermore, a supplementary return can be made within 5 years after filing the VAT return. However, in the latter case, no appeal is allowed if these changes are rejected by the tax authorities.

Intrastat and EC Sales Lists

The Intrastat discloses details of movements of goods between Member States which take place for commercial reasons, recording the movement whenever goods enter the territory of Netherlands from other Member States or leave it to other Member States.

Declaration must be filed monthly once the annual threshold is exceeded.

Intrastat declarations can be submitted monthly and electronically. Physical carriers such as disks are not accepted. The due date for submission is the 10th day of the month following the reference period.