Dutch VAT returns for non-resident businesses

Deadlines

By law a quarterly return and the payment are due within one month after the quarter; for a business without an establishment or permanent establishment in the Netherlands the Dutch tax authorities give two months. The exact date is in your overview of returns at the Dutch tax authorities. A registered business files for every quarter, also when there was nothing to report.

That one-month term is the general rule in the law. For a company that is not established in the Netherlands and has no fixed establishment here, the Dutch tax authorities apply a longer term: the return and the payment must be received by the last day of the second month after the period. The same applies to monthly returns, so the return for September 2026 is due by 30 November 2026. When your return shows a refund, filing early brings the money in sooner. The quarterly dates the Dutch tax authorities give for foreign businesses:

• Fourth quarter of 2025: 28 February 2026
• First quarter of 2026: 31 May 2026
• Second quarter of 2026: 31 August 2026
• Third quarter of 2026: 30 November 2026
• Fourth quarter of 2026: 28 February 2027

Import VAT and refunds

Without an Article 23 licence, the import VAT is paid at import, usually through your customs broker. You deduct it in your Dutch VAT return. When your deductible VAT is higher than the VAT you owe, the Dutch tax authorities refund the difference.

On request, the Dutch tax authorities can set monthly instead of quarterly returns, so refunds come in sooner. We agree the fee for monthly returns in advance.

The Dutch tax authorities usually decide on a refund within a month after the return. It takes longer if it first asks for purchase invoices or starts an audit. If it cannot decide within eight weeks, it must tell you and name a new term, and you can then be entitled to tax interest. Without a Dutch VAT number you reclaim Dutch VAT on costs through the refund procedure instead: see Dutch VAT refund for foreign businesses.

Marketplaces and the OSS

Is your company established outside the EU and do you sell to consumers through a marketplace? Then the marketplace is in many cases treated as the seller. Your sale to the marketplace is taxed at 0%, and you still report it in your Dutch return.

Sales from Dutch stock to consumers in other EU countries go through the OSS return. For a business established outside the EU there is no € 10,000 threshold.

Quarter, month or year

The Dutch tax authorities set your filing period. The standard is a return per calendar quarter, whatever the amount. On request it can be per month, which helps when you regularly receive a refund.

An annual return is only possible under strict conditions: the business is not a legal entity, it pays less than € 1,883 VAT a year, it has less than € 10,000 a year in intra-EU supplies, in intra-EU acquisitions and in intra-EU services bought in, and it has no Article 23 licence. A company that is a legal entity therefore files per quarter or per month.

What goes into a Dutch VAT return

The return has five parts. For a foreign company these are the boxes that matter most:

• 1a and 1b: your sales taxed in the Netherlands at 21% and 9%, with the VAT. See Dutch VAT rates 2026
• 1e: sales in the Netherlands at 0%, and sales on which the VAT is reverse-charged to your customer. Only the amount, no VAT
• 2a: purchases in the Netherlands on which the VAT is reverse-charged to you
• 3a: goods you export to countries outside the EU
• 3b: goods shipped from the Netherlands to business customers in other EU countries, including your own goods that you move there, and services to business customers there. The total must match your EC Sales List
• 3c: installation in other EU countries, and distance sales to consumers there that do not go through the OSS
• 4b: goods and services from other EU countries on which you account for the VAT yourself, including your own goods that you move to the Netherlands from another EU country
• 5b: your deductible VAT: Dutch VAT on purchase invoices, import VAT you paid, and the VAT from boxes 2a and 4b as far as you may deduct it

Did you pay the import VAT to customs, for example through your customs broker? Then the import is not reported in box 4a; you deduct the VAT in box 5b. Box 4a is for imports under an Article 23 licence. Without an EC Sales List, the 0% rate for an intra-EU supply can be refused. More on imports: import VAT for foreign companies.

Paying the VAT

• Pay with the payment reference that belongs to the return. Without it, the Dutch tax authorities cannot process the payment
• The payment counts on the day it is credited to the account of the Dutch tax authorities, not the day it leaves your account. One day late is late. If the last day falls on a weekend or a public holiday, pay earlier
• Filing and paying are two separate obligations. If you cannot file in time, for example because of a technical problem, the VAT must still be paid on time
• Payment problems do not give you extra time to file. A payment arrangement can only be granted once the Dutch tax authorities have issued an additional assessment for the unpaid VAT

Refund in your return or through the refund procedure

How you get Dutch VAT on your costs back depends on whether you file Dutch VAT returns:

• Registered and filing returns, for example because you sell from stock in the Netherlands: the Dutch VAT on your costs and the import VAT go into box 5b of your return. If they are higher than the VAT you owe, the return shows a refund
• Not registered, because you make no supplies in the Netherlands, or only supplies on which your Dutch customer accounts for the VAT: you use the refund procedure. Companies from other EU countries file through the portal of their own tax authority by 30 September of the following year. Companies from outside the EU file with the Dutch tax authorities within six months after the calendar year

Not sure whether you need to register? See VAT registration for foreign companies and Dutch VAT refund for foreign businesses.

Correcting a return

Found a mistake in a return you already filed? You must report it to the Dutch tax authorities and correct it. Since 2025 the correction must be filed within eight weeks after you discover the mistake; corrections can go back five calendar years.

• A correction of € 1,000 or less in total, too much or too little, can go into your next return
• Above € 1,000 you file a separate correction return, digitally like the regular return. We prepare a correction return for € 125
• Too little VAT declared: the Dutch tax authorities then issue an additional assessment and ask you to wait with paying until it arrives. If you file the correction within three months after the end of the year, no tax interest is due
• Too much VAT paid: you can file a correction as well, and the Dutch tax authorities refund what you are entitled to

If you correct it before you know or should suspect that the Dutch tax authorities are aware of the mistake, as a rule no penalty follows. More on this: late or missed Dutch VAT returns and how to correct a VAT return.

Example: a quarter with a refund

A company established in Switzerland is registered for Dutch VAT and keeps stock in a Dutch warehouse. In the third quarter of 2026:

• It imports goods and pays € 21,000 import VAT (21% of € 100,000) through its customs broker
• It pays € 10,000 for the warehouse plus € 2,100 Dutch VAT
• It sells goods for € 60,000 from the warehouse to business customers established in the Netherlands. The VAT is reverse-charged to them: box 1e, no VAT
• It ships goods for € 50,000 from the warehouse to business customers with a VAT number in Germany and France: box 3b at 0%, and the same amount on the EC Sales List
• Box 5b: € 21,000 + € 2,100 = € 23,100. The return shows a refund of € 23,100

The return is due by 30 November 2026, but filing it in October brings the refund in sooner. If a refund is the normal pattern, monthly returns, which the Dutch tax authorities allow on request, bring the money in faster. This is a worked example with rounded amounts, not a client case.

Late, missed or missing returns

A late return costs a penalty of € 82; late payment 3% of the VAT, at least € 50 and at most € 6,709. Is there no return available for a period? Then you must ask the Dutch tax authorities for one within one month after that period. Missed several quarters? See late or missed Dutch VAT returns.

What it costs

Every Dutch VAT return and your questions about the return: € 100 per month, € 150 per month with the OSS return, EC Sales List + € 25 per month. Not registered yet? The Dutch VAT registration is € 275 one-off, everything included. A missed quarter caught up is € 325. Work out your total in the cost calculator, or see all our services on services for foreign businesses.

Logging in: eHerkenning

To log in to the online portal of the Dutch tax authorities yourself, a company needs eHerkenning, the Dutch business login, at level EH3 or higher. It is bought from an approved provider. When we file your returns, you usually do not need it yourself: you authorise us instead.