Incorporation - Types of Business Entities

There are several types of entities that can be incorporated in Netherland are as mentioned below:

• Sole Trader (Individual Business Owner)
• Partnership
• General Partnership (Vennootschap Onder Firma, VOF)
• Limited Partnership (Commanditaire Vennootschap, CV)
• Private Limited Liability Company (Besloten Vennootschap, BV)
• Public Limited Liability Corporation (Naamloze Vennootschap, NV)
• Branch office
• Foundation (Stichting)
• Association (Verenining)
• Cooperative (Coöperatie)

Time Frame for Incorporation of Company in Netherlands varies from depending on the type of entity selected. Each business type has its own advantages and disadvantages. YourGlobalPro estimates the time required for the process of Company formation in Netherlands to be completed is 5-7 working days.

Benefits of Registration of a Company

Below are the advantages of company formation in Netherlands:

• It is one of the best Countries for Business and a world-class business destination
• Strategic location at Europe’s front door
• Easy access to 95% of Europe’s most lucrative consumer markets
• Supportive corporate tax structure
• Highly educated, multilingual workforce
• Superior logistics and technology infrastructure

Tax Registration and Filing

Resident companies are subject to tax on their worldwide income while Non-resident companies, primarily branch offices of foreign companies doing business in the Netherlands, are taxable only on specific income items, such as real estate and business profits generated in the Netherlands.

Double Tax Treaty

Double Tax Agreements regulates the tax treatment of income or capital gains in situations where the same taxpayer is taxed twice in two countries for the same subject. Netherland has double taxation treaties with over 90 countries.

Trademark registration

In Netherlands for trademark registration application needs to be made to the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). It takes approximately 5-8 months’ time frame to complete the trade mark registration process. In Netherlands, a Trademark Registration is valid for 10 years from the application date and can be renewed six months before the trademark right expires by payment of renewal fees for 10 years indefinitely.

YourGlobalPro professionals are fully equipped to assist you with the process of trademark registration for your business in Netherlands. For assistance or advice in the matter of the trademark registration in Netherlands or intellectual property – please feel free to write or contact us.

Secretarial Compliance

Below are some of the important points in relation to Company Secretarial Compliance in Netherlands:

• The Accounting records must be kept for a period of seven years.
• It is not necessary for a company to prepare and file the annual report in Dutch.
• The requirements to prepare and file annual reports and the requirement for an audit are determined, inter alia, by the size of that company.
• There are no nationality restrictions on managers or company directors.
• The financial statements must be prepared and made available within four months after year end and they must be adopted within six months after year-end.
• Requirement to establish a works council for every company with 50 employees or more

Accounting Services

In Netherlands, all the companies are required to maintain proper accounting books and records from which the financial position of the Company can be determined. Also, accounting can be done in any country but the records must be made available within a reasonable time upon request.

YourGlobalPro professionals can assist you with the entire bookkeeping and accounting services for your Netherlands Business Setup as per your business needs including implementation of financial accounting software, accounting records preparation and time to time preparation of budgets, forecasts.

Auditing service

The financial statements can be prepared either under Dutch GAAP or IFRS as adopted by the EU. A small company has no audit requirement and may file an abbreviated balance sheet and notes with the Chamber of Commerce. A medium-sized company must be audited, but is permitted to file an abbreviated profit and loss account as part of the financial statements.

Based on the size of the business – the companies are required to prepare and file financial statements with the Authority. YourGlobalPro professionals can provide auditing services as required by your business.

Banking

The documentation requirement differs from Bank to Bank and need to be complied for the Bank account opening.  It is recommended to compare commission rates for money transfer to and from Netherlands. The major banks in Netherlands are ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Citibank, De Nederlandsche Babk, ING, SNS Bank. All banks are stable, reliable and offer the same level of services.

YourGlobalPro professionals can facilitates all the paper work in relation to banking need and can assist you in opening bank account for your business plan in Netherlands.

Legal and Compliance

In Netherlands the responsibility of legal compliance is not a one-time affair, but a continuous process. Below is the various Netherlands legal and compliance requirement to be followed by incorporated entities:

• No real restrictions are imposed on the movement of funds into and out of the Netherlands.
• No filings required when employing people, however, only in specific circumstances, the Dutch tax authorities may request the employer to inform them of employing someone.
• Preparation of financial statements within 5 months after year-end
• Adoption of the financial statements by the general meeting to be Within 2 months of the date of preparation
• Filing of the financial statements to be Within 8 days of adoption, but in no event later than two months after the date of preparation (whether the accounts have been adopted or not)

YourGlobalPro professionals can assist you on Netherlands Legal and compliance requirement.

HR and Employment Law and Immigration / VISA

Below are some of the important points in relation to HR & employment law in Netherlands:

• The probation period for employment contracts should be of six months or less.
• Restriction on non-compete clauses in temporary employment contracts
• Employer to notify the employee of six months or more in writing, at least one month before the contract ends, of whether or not the contract will be extended and conditions thereof
• Temporary contracts may be extended twice
• Except those from visa waiver countries, all foreign nationals are subject to the visa requirement.
• In the foreign national country – the visa can be obtained from the Dutch embassy or Dutch consulate.
• Work permit is required for non-EU/EEA nationals to work in The Netherlands.
• The employer must file a request with the Employee Insurance Agency (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen) (UWV) to obtain work permit for foreign national.
• The foreign employee must reside within a reasonable distance from the place of work and must be older than 18 and younger than 45 years old
• The employer must offer the foreign employee terms and conditions of employment.
• Foreign nationals who meet specific financial thresholds do not need a work permit and instead only have to apply for a residence permit with the annotation “work as highly skilled migrant”.
• A minimum wage, which is dependent on age applies

Country Statistics