Is a KvK number the same as a VAT number?

No. A KvK number comes from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and proves a business is in the Business Register. A VAT number comes from the Dutch Tax Administration and is about VAT. Most Dutch companies hold three: a KvK number, a VAT identification number for customers, and a VAT tax number for the tax office.

A KvK number identifies a business in the Dutch Business Register and is issued by KvK, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. A VAT number identifies a business for value added tax and is issued by the Dutch Tax Administration. They are not interchangeable, and the second one comes in two forms.

Foreign founders often meet these numbers in the wrong order, because a Dutch customer asks for a btw-id while the accountant asks for something else. Here is what each one is.

The KvK number has 8 digits. KvK issues it on registration in the Business Register, and it proves the business is registered. Dutch law requires it on letters, quotations, invoices, the website and business emails. A business gets one KvK number, no matter how many activities it runs.

The VAT identification number, the btw-identificatienummer or btw-id, is the public one. It reads NL, then nine digits, then the letter B, then two more digits. It belongs on invoices, quotations and the website, and it is what a customer or supplier asks for. KvK states that a letter with this number arrives from the Tax Administration within 2 weeks of registration with KvK.

The VAT tax number, the omzetbelastingnummer, is the private one, used in contact with the Tax Administration itself. For a sole trader it can contain the citizen service number, which is why the public btw-id exists as a separate number at all. For a BV, the Dutch private limited company, the two are the same.

A company that hires staff collects a fourth number, the payroll taxes number or loonheffingennummer, from a separate registration as an employer.

Sources:
KvK, KVK number: all you need to know
KvK, Everything you need to know about the VAT identification number

A company registered abroad can end up with a Dutch VAT number and no KvK number at all, because it registers with the Tax Administration directly. That route is set out in how a foreign company registers for VAT. A company that sets up a Dutch BV gets the KvK number first and the tax numbers follow, which is described in how to set up a Dutch BV from abroad.

Sources

1. KvK, KVK number: all you need to know, checked 22 September 2026
2. KvK, Everything you need to know about the VAT identification number, checked 22 September 2026
3. Business.gov.nl, Request, display, and verify VAT numbers, checked 22 September 2026

Checked on 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules change: check the official source, or ask an adviser, before you act on it.