Besides the flowers, windmills, beaches, and skies, the Netherlands is a great place to start and grow your business. Primarily due to the tax benefits, but also for its entrepreneur-friendly mindset, the Netherlands is a paradise for both residents and non-residents to establish a company. However, getting a business visa and preparing your business plan isn’t enough to get started or run the business.
Apart from daily operations, you need to consider the tax returns that you need to file with the authorities. For that, you need a tax advisor, better if they can help you set up the business as a non-resident. In this article, we’ll discuss how to find the best tax advisor in the Netherlands.
Find out if They Understand the Legal Business Structures
Several legal business structures are present in the Netherlands. If you want to set up and run your business in the Netherlands, you must consider one of those options. Consider hiring a tax advisor who understands the regulations behind these structures and can manage finances for you. Here are the briefs of the most common business structures in the Netherlands.
Sole Proprietorship
A sole proprietorship business has only one responsible individual who is in charge of the business operations, finances, and liabilities. Tax advisors help businesses with this legal structure to file VAT, income tax, levies, and any other municipal taxes.
General Partnership
A general partnership structure requires at least 2 individuals to manage the business. Depending on the partnership clause, there might be a difference in their contribution and profit share. And as each partner is responsible for their own debts and liabilities, hiring a tax advisor who understands the structure is critical.
Professional Partnership
Self-employed individuals who work alongside other professionals are required to set up a professional partnership business. The partners are seen as equals in a professional partnership and they are responsible for debts, profits, and liabilities equally. In this complex structure, employing a tax advisor who can contribute to each partner and the business equally, is necessary. It’s advised that you hire a tax advisory farm for the same.
Limited Partnership
This kind of legal business is structured with at least 2 individuals. Among them, one is the managing partner, and the other is the silent partner. The silent partner is supposed to be your financial advisor. The job of a tax advisor is heightened in limited partnership businesses.
Private Limited Company
A private limited company (BV) in the Netherlands is one of the most complicated business structures with a focus on the company rather than on individuals. As every company in the BV structure is different, your tax advisor must understand what they need to do to register a company in the Netherlands and sustain your financial operations.
Verify If They Can Set Up Your Company
Technically speaking, you don’t need a tax advisor to set up your company. There are other farms that take care of it just fine. But, having a tax advisor who can set up the business can be beneficial. As they’ll be with your business from the start, they’ll be able to guide you through the process and save tax burden from the first day.
Setting up a business in the Netherlands for non-residents requires specialization in foreign relationships, bank accounts, municipal rules, tax rules, and all other critical elements. You also need to have your own social security to easily access the emergency services offered by the Dutch Government. However, as this is becoming more and more complex to achieve, you need a competent service provider for that.
Moreover, if you want to take over an existing business as a non-resident, there are different rules and regulations for that.
Ask About the Tax Brackets and Benefits
Depending on the nature of the business, your tax advisor is required to legally structure your tax returns in such a way that saves you on taxes and fines as much as possible. Here are a few tax requirements that you need to verify from your tax advisor.
Corporate Income Tax
Private limited and public limited companies are subjected to file corporate income taxes. It’s calculated on the net profit of the corporation and your tax advisor is responsible for auditing and filing them accurately. However, businesses involved in innovative activities are allowed to pay less corporate income tax through a special tariff box feature in the portals. Corporate income tax rates are available here (It’s in Dutch!).
Other Taxes
A few other taxes include:
- Advertising tax
- Dividend tax
- Energy tax
- Excise duty
- Groundwater tax
- Heavy Vehicle tax
- Landfill tax
- Municipal charges
- Property tax
- And many others.
Analyze their Previous Experience With Foreign Companies
As a non-resident, you don’t want to work with a tax advisor who has zero experience with foreign investors and companies. They may be the most recommended tax advisors in the Netherlands, but they won’t be able to fulfill your requirements. Consider analyzing their previous experience and ask for challenges they have faced with any particular foreign investor.
The Bottom Line
Finding the best tax advisor in the Netherlands requires finding out about their understanding of corporate structures and tax brackets. Make sure that they know about setting up the business and saving on your tax returns. Interview them for VAT schemes and corporate tax liabilities. You also need to find a tax farm that has experience with non-residential businesses and foreign investors.
