How do you set up a Dutch BV from abroad?

Decide what you are actually setting up

Before you call a notary, settle two things: whether you want a Dutch company at all or a registered branch of the one you have, and who will hold the shares. A branch is the same legal entity as the parent and needs no notary. A BV is a new Dutch company, and someone has to own it: the parent company, the founders directly, or a holding company above it.

The trade-offs between the two are in branch or subsidiary in the Netherlands. The decision matters here because it changes which documents the notary asks for. If the shareholder is a company rather than a person, the notary will want that company's registration and articles as well.

Arrange a Dutch business address

The company needs an address in the Netherlands, and Business.gov.nl is explicit that a post office box will not do. It can be your own premises, or a business address such as your accountant's, as long as the company is really reachable there.

There is one exception. A founder in a border region who can prove structural physical business activity in the Netherlands may register with a private foreign address. For a company landing from Asia, Türkiye or the United States that exception does not apply, so the address is a real first task, not a formality.

Source: Business.gov.nl, Start a business in the Netherlands from abroad

Choose a civil-law notary and send the documents

Only a Dutch civil-law notary can incorporate a BV. Business.gov.nl puts it plainly: if you choose a legal structure with legal personality, such as a BV, you need a civil-law notary. The notary drafts the deed of incorporation, which contains the articles of association: the company's name, its seat, its purpose, its shares and how its directors are appointed.

Notaries do not work from a fixed price list. Rijksoverheid, the Dutch central government, states that notary rates are free, meaning each notary sets their own. Ask two or three for a quotation and for their list of required documents before you choose, because the list is where the delay usually sits. What is on it is set out in what you need to register a Dutch BV.

Sources:
Rijksoverheid, Wat kost een notaris?
Business.gov.nl, Start a business in the Netherlands from abroad

Sign the deed, in person or through a power of attorney

The deed is signed before the notary. A founder who cannot fly to the Netherlands does not have to: the usual route is a power of attorney, signed at home, together with a copy of the passport that a notary, embassy, consulate or municipality in that country has legalised. A legalised copy carries a statement that the copy matches the original.

KVK follows the same logic for its own paperwork. Where a company registers without anyone attending in person, it asks for a legalised copy of the identity document of each director and a Dutch power of attorney carrying original signatures. If the power of attorney is written in another language, a certified Dutch translation is added.

The share capital is not the obstacle people expect. Business.gov.nl gives the minimum as EUR 0.01 paid into the company, in cash or in goods with a value in money.

Sources:
NetherlandsWorldwide, Getting a photocopy of your identity document legalised
KVK, Inschrijven buitenlandse rechtspersoon of vennootschap
Business.gov.nl, Private limited company (bv)

Let the notary register the company and its owners

You do not queue at a counter. KVK states that the notary normally handles both registrations at once: the company in the Business Register, and the ultimate beneficial owners in the UBO register. After registration, a letter with the KVK number arrives at the company's postal address.

Who counts as an ultimate beneficial owner when the shares are held by a parent company abroad is a question of its own, and the notary will ask for the documents that prove it: see the Dutch UBO register.

Source: KVK, Inschrijven besloten vennootschap of naamloze vennootschap

Collect the tax numbers

Registration with KVK feeds the Netherlands Tax Administration, and the numbers come back by post. KVK says the company receives that letter within two weeks. Business.gov.nl puts the VAT number at within 10 working days of registration.

Three numbers arrive or apply, and they are not the same thing:

• The KVK number, eight digits, proving the company is registered.
• The RSIN, the identification number for legal entities, generated on registration.
• The VAT number and the VAT identification number, issued by the tax office, the second of which you put on invoices and your website.

Which is which, and which one a customer or investor is really asking for, is explained in is a KvK number the same as a VAT number.

Sources:
KVK, Inschrijven besloten vennootschap of naamloze vennootschap
Business.gov.nl, Dutch business numbers: RSIN, KVK, VAT and VAT-ID

Turn the company into an operating company

The entity exists, but it cannot yet pay anyone. Three things usually still stand between the deed and a working Dutch operation: the business bank account, registration as an employer before the first payroll run, and eHerkenning, the Dutch business login used for tax filings and subsidy applications. Business.gov.nl describes eHerkenning in assurance levels, and the level you need is set by the agency you log in to.

That last one matters earlier than founders expect. A company that wants the Dutch R&D tax credit has to be a registered employer with staff on its own payroll and a login in place before it can apply: see WBSO for foreign-owned companies. How long the whole sequence really takes, and what the timeline never includes, is in how long it takes to set up a Dutch BV.

Source: Business.gov.nl, Applying for eHerkenning