Home Foreign businesses VAT registration refused: no establishment in the Netherlands
VAT registration refused: no establishment in the Netherlands
A BV (Dutch private limited company) incorporated in the Netherlands but managed from abroad often receives this answer. It does not mean the company cannot register. It means the company is registered as a foreign business.
We register the company through the right route
The Registration form Foreign companies, filed for your BV, with all follow-up until the VAT number is issued.
Why the Dutch tax authorities say this
For VAT, a company is established where its central management takes place: where the main management decisions are made. The registered office in the Netherlands is one factor, but not the decisive one. A postal address is not enough.
A fixed establishment needs a sufficient degree of permanence and its own staff and technical resources. A warehouse or fulfilment centre run by a third party is usually not enough.
Is your BV managed from another country, and does it have no office or staff in the Netherlands? Then the Dutch tax authorities treat it as a business established abroad.
What this means for VAT
- The company registers as a foreign business through the Registration form Foreign companies, and receives a Dutch VAT number
- It files Dutch VAT returns and reclaims the import VAT in those returns
- Without a fiscal representative it cannot use an Article 23 licence for import VAT
- If it is established outside the EU and sells through a marketplace, the marketplace is in many cases treated as the seller to the consumer
- Services it buys from the Netherlands, such as ours, are generally not subject to Dutch VAT
Corporate income tax is a different matter
For corporate income tax, a company incorporated under Dutch law is always treated as established in the Netherlands, also when it is managed from abroad. If the Netherlands has a tax treaty with the other country, the treaty then decides which country may tax the profits.
A Dutch BV also files annual accounts with the KVK (the Dutch Chamber of Commerce). We prepare the corporate income tax return for € 395 per year and the annual accounts for € 645 per year.
Can you object to the refusal?
A refusal of a VAT identification number is not a decision you can contest through the regular tax objection procedure. In practice the quicker route is to register the company as a foreign business.
What we do
We check your situation, prepare the Registration form Foreign companies with the right attachments, file it and follow it up until the VAT number is issued. One-off € 275, everything included.
Which details and documents the form asks for, where it is sent and what follows after the registration: VAT registration in the Netherlands for foreign companies.
Frequently asked questions
Is our BV still a Dutch company?
Yes. It remains a Dutch BV, registered with the KVK, and for corporate income tax it is treated as established in the Netherlands. Only for VAT is it treated as established abroad.
Do we have to move management to the Netherlands?
Not for the VAT registration. If the company later has management, staff or an office in the Netherlands, its VAT position may change.
Which documents are needed?
The KVK extract, the deed of incorporation, the letter from the Dutch tax authorities and documents on your activities. For a company managed from outside the EU, the Dutch tax authorities may also ask for a tax statement from that country.
Received this letter? Send it to us and we tell you the next step.
Tell us briefly what is going on. Within one working day you hear what we can do for you and what it costs, before we start.
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