Starting a business after retirement

On 1 January 2025, the KVK Business Register listed 164,001 entrepreneurs over the age of 67. 

Are you an entrepreneur?

Not everyone who continues working after they reach the pension age is an entrepreneur. Are you doing an occasional assignment for your former employer? Or are you doing a project for a single client? Then you are not an entrepreneur. This means that you do not have to register with KVK.
There are different arrangements for these types of work. Your employer or client can hire you through a temporary employment agency, or use the opting-in scheme (in Dutch).  

If your client does not want to withold taxes, then using the data portal Payments to third parties (uitbetaalde bedragen aan derden, UBD, in Dutch) is another option. Your client then registers their payment to you with the Netherlands Tax Administration (Belastingdienst), but you are not considered a salaried employee, nor an entrepreneur. At the end of the year, you file a tax return for this income yourself.

Please note: it is not always clear whether or not the Netherlands Tax Administration views you as an entrepreneur. Always check with the Tax Administration or your accountant that you can use these arrangements.

Your old age pension (AOW) and income

Everyone who has lived or worked in the Netherlands accrues a basic state pension, the AOW. You will receive your AOW benefit when you reach the AOW age threshold. The AOW age in 2025 is 67 years. How high the benefit is will vary depending on your situation. You may earn an unlimited amount on top of your AOW benefit. The amount you earn with your business will not affect the level of your AOW.

If you had a job with an employer (salaried employment), you probably also built up extra pension. You will receive this pension from your retirement age. This retirement age may differ from the AOW age. There is no additional earning limit for your pension benefit either.

Income tax and additional earnings

If you start as a self-employed professional without staff (zzp’er) or a freelancer, your business structure is likely to be an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship). This means you must pay income tax on your business profits. The Tax Administration considers these profits as extra income on top of your AOW and pension. You must declare this income when you file your income tax return at the end of the year. The Tax Administration calls this income from other activities (inkomsten uit overig werk, in Dutch). Your extra earnings can put you in a higher tax bracket. This means you will have to pay more tax on part of your income.

When you reach retirement age, the income tax rate decreases because you no longer pay the AOW premium. The tax credits (in Dutch) also change.

Rent or healthcare allowance

Your entitlement to rent and healthcare allowance depend on your income. Do you receive rent or healthcare allowance? Check with the Tax Administration whether or not your are still entitled to these allowances if your income increases.  

Tax deductions for entrepreneurs

Do you do more than an occasional job? Then the Tax Administration may see you as an entrepreneur and you may have to file income tax returns. You can check this with the Tax Administration's (in Dutch). 

Do you spend at least 1,225 hours on your business? Then you can make use of schemes for entrepreneurs such as the private business ownership allowance (zelfstandigenaftrek). You may only deduct half the amounts after you reach retirement age. 

VAT and the small businesses scheme (KOR)

You will also have to deal with VAT. You calculate what you have charged your customers in VAT per quarter. You deduct the VAT that you have paid yourself on costs or purchases. You file a declaration on this balance. 

Is your turnover lower than €20,000? Then the small businesses scheme (KOR), an exemption from VAT, can be beneficial.

General information for starters

This article covered topics of particular interest to entrepreneurs receiving a pension. As a starting entrepreneur, you also have to deal with the following:

• Writing a business plan
• Choosing a company name