I am a zzp'er, am I an entrepreneur?

  • Jozy Gallmann
  • Q and A
  • 10 August 2023
  • Edited 2 June 2025
  • 1 min
  • Starting
  • Rules and laws

Are you a self-employed professional without staff, zzp'er, freelancer? Then you have your own business, which makes you an entrepreneur. However, many zzp'ers do not feel like entrepreneurs. In this article, you can read about the situation of zzp'ers and entrepreneurship.

What do you need to do and arrange when starting a business?

Find out with the 'Personal to-do list' on Business.gov.nl. Answer the questions and see the steps that are important in your situation.

Create your personal list

Self-employed professionals without staff form the largest group of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands: there are almost 1.8 million of them.

Running a business as a zzp'er

Zzp stands for “zelfstandige zonder personeel” or, self-employed without staff. In other words, you have your own business and no employees. As a zzp'er you carry out temporary assignments or sell products. If you work for clients, you are not employed by them. Your clients pay your invoice.

As a zzp'er, you must, like other entrepreneurs, file a tax return for your income with the Netherlands Tax Administration. You must also file a return for turnover tax (VAT).

It is important that you do not work in false self-employment. False self-employment is a situation in which you accept an assignment as an entrepreneur, but according to the rules you are actually employed (in Dutch).

No difference between a freelancer and a zzp'er

There is no difference between a zzp'er and a freelancer. They mean the same thing. Note that neither is a business structure. Most zzp'ers choose eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) as a buisness structure. Eenmanszaak translates as 'one-man business'. There are some sectors where it is usual to call yourself a zzp'er, if you are in the construction industry for example. In other sectors, for instance journalism, freelancer is the more widely used term. Either way: if you are a zzp'er or a freelancer, you are an entrepreneur. 

Want to become a zzp’er? Check the steps you need to take.

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