Freelancing abroad: where do you register your business?

Contact the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK

Every week, several entrepreneurs move abroad. They are moving abroad temporarily or emigrate completely. These entrepreneurs must ensure that their registration in the Business Register is still correct after the move.

 As soon as you move abroad, the municipality sends a notification to KVK. KVK then contacts you. KVK wants to know whether your company will continue to exist in the Netherlands. This is how KVK helps you register your company correctly. But it remains your responsibility to ensure the registration of their business in the Business Register is correct. for your company, customers, and suppliers.  

Are you planning to travel and work remotely? This may affect your tax and insurance obligations. Refer to the roadmap for digital nomads.

Leaving the Netherlands

Are there no longer business activities in the Netherlands? Then you have to inform KVK that the business in the Netherlands , and deregister from the Business Register. It does not matter if you still have Dutch customers. You can have Dutch clients with your foreign company, without being registered with KVK.

Avoid additional costs

If you do not deregister yourself, KVK deregisters your company 'ex officio'. Deregister your company yourself, so that the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) and other organisations will no longer see you as an entrepreneur. That way, you avoid paying unnecessary money. For example, on tax returns, memberships and insurances in the Netherlands.

Returning for business in the Netherlands

Will you remain an entrepreneur in the Netherlands after your emigration? For example, because you sometimes return and carry out a job here. Then your company will remain in the KVK Business Register. For this, you need a Dutch business address. If you do not have one, you must find another solution. For example, sometimes a Dutch client or accountant will give you permission to register your business on their address. This is not always possible, however.  Certain administration or tax advice firms are not allowed to let you register with their address.

Ask for help

Discuss your plans to move with your accountant, and ask the KVK Advice Team or the Tax Administration for advice. Change your registration in the Business Register in time, so you can go abroad without worries.

Examples

These are examples of the stories of five entrepreneurs, who left the Netherlands to move abroad.

1. Dentist

A dentist emigrates to France, and continues to practice his profession in the Netherlands. He works as a substitute and takes weekend shifts in a dental practice. Because he practices his business activities in the Netherlands, his business has to remain registered in the Dutch Business Register. But for this, he needs a Dutch business address, for example the address of the dental practice where he works. The owner of the practice premises has to agree to this. And the entrepreneur has to register his foreign private address in the RNI (Non-resident Persons Database) at 1 of the 19 Dutch RNI registration points.

2. Journalist

A self-employed journalist moves to the USA. If she writes copy for Dutch media from the USA, she is not in fact working in the Netherlands. The journalist must deregister at KVK. She no longer has to pay Dutch taxes, as the business activities now take place in the USA. The journalist can register with an American business register, and send her Dutch clients invoices from the States.

3. Online shop

The owner of a Dutch online shop moves to Spain. She no longer has business activities in the Netherlands, and must deregister from the Dutch Business Register. Even if her online shop sells only to Dutch customers, her business is Spanish. Her online shop may still be registered for VAT, if the turnover from Dutch customers exceeds the EU threshold for long-distance sales. The entrepreneur can choose: either to file her VAT for other EU countries in her Spanish VAT return, or to apply for a VAT number to the Dutch Tax Administration, and file a VAT return in the Netherlands for her Dutch sales.

4. Part-time handyman

A construction contractor moves to Austria after his retirement. He would like to do odd jobs in the Netherlands for a couple of months a year. To register as a zzp'er with the KVK Business Register, he needs a visiting address in the Netherlands. If he does not have a business address in the Netherlands, he can ask his clients or his accountant if it is OK to register his business on their address. The contractor has to register his foreign private address at one of the 19 Dutch RNI registration points.

5. Consultant

A freelance consultant moves from Sweden to the Netherlands. She continues to run her business and give advice to her Swedish customers, visiting them every now and again. In this case, the business activities take place abroad. The entrepreneur has to deregister from the Swedish Business Register and register a new business in the Netherlands. She can continue to provide services to her Swedish customers from her Dutch business. She will have to figure out how to meet her tax obligations for these so-called intra-community services - that is, services provided from a business in one EU country to a customer in another. In this case, the Swedish tax authorities can help her.

Old Age Pension (AOW)

Good to know: if you move your business abroad, you no longer make automatic pension contributions under the General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW). This means that for every year that you work outside the Netherlands, you will receive less national pension when you retire. You can take out voluntary insurance with the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) if you do not accrue AOW.