US companies doing business in the Netherlands

Registering a US company for Dutch VAT

We register your company as a foreign business, whatever its legal form: LLC, Inc. or Corporation. The registration form asks companies from outside the EU for documents that show their activities, proof of registration in their own country, a tax statement from the tax authority there and a copy of the deed of incorporation.

We tell you which documents to request and check them before anything is filed. Then we send the form, with a covering letter, by registered post to the Dutch tax authorities and follow it up until your VAT number is issued.

What usually applies

• Parcels shipped from the US directly to consumers, up to € 150 per consignment: import VAT is due, but it can be handled through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS). A seller from outside the EU usually needs an intermediary established in the EU for the IOSS. Through a marketplace, the marketplace is treated as the seller
• Stock in the Netherlands, with a 3PL or for a marketplace: you register for Dutch VAT, and sales from that stock to consumers in other EU countries go through the Union OSS, from the first sale
• Services to Dutch businesses: the VAT is usually reverse-charged to your customer
• Software, apps and other digital services to consumers in the EU: the non-Union OSS, in one EU country
• Dutch VAT on your costs without a Dutch VAT number: a refund request with the Dutch tax authorities, within six months after the end of the calendar year

Is your company from Switzerland or Norway? See Swiss and Norwegian companies in the Netherlands.

Staff, an office or a Dutch BV

People working for your company in the Netherlands, or an office here, may create a permanent establishment, with Dutch corporate income tax on its profits. A Dutch BV (private limited company) is a separate company with its own corporate income tax return and annual accounts. Employees in the Netherlands mean Dutch payroll. See permanent establishment, a Dutch BV with foreign owners and payroll for foreign employers.

Events and trade fairs

Exhibiting or organising an event in the Netherlands has its own VAT rules for admission and stand space. See VAT on events, conferences and trade fairs.

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.

What we do

We look at your sales, goods flows and people in the Netherlands and tell you which registrations you need. Then we arrange the Dutch VAT registration (€ 275, everything included), an EU EORI number if needed (€ 59), and file every Dutch VAT return in our package: € 100 per month, € 150 with the OSS return. Staff in the Netherlands? We also run the payroll: see payroll for foreign employers.