Table of Contents
From the legal side in Holland an entrepreneur can choose to open a company or a partnership with limited or unlimited liability. Usually, the most common form a business can take is the Private Limited Company.
The other forms are: sole trader, the public limited company, general partnership (Vennootshap onder Firma), limited partnership (Commanditaire Vennootshap), professional partnership (Maatschap).
If the criteria for every form of business are respected(for example the minimum share capital for the private limited company- 1 Euro, and the one for the public limited company-45.000 Euros must be deposited in a bank account) than the company can start its business in less then a month.
There are only six steps before registration and the process itself takes a week but the approval may take several weeks. After the company is reggistered, you should know that if the company has import and export activities, it is mandatory to apply for an EORI number in the Netherlands. Also, your company should also be registered for VAT.
The process of hiring employees starts by checking the nationality of the candidates. If they are not Dutch residents it may need a staying permit. Proper accommodation must be granted for the non residents. Also for the non residents a work of permit is required.
From most points of view the procedure in the netherlands is similar to the one for establishing holding companies in countries like Cyprus or Estonia.
The second step is to verify if the employee’s certificates are appropriate.
A healthcare insurance must be provided for each employee.
An important step is applying for the International Office of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration in order to pay the payroll taxes and in some cases VAT. VAT registration in Netherlands is a mandatory step in some cases. Our lawyers can provide more details.
From the Tax and Customs Administration, the employer must receive the tax and social insurance number for each hired person.
Most Dutch businesses are covered by the Collective Labor Agreement so it is necessary to check if the particular business comply it.
After registering the business, the entrepreneur must meet the payroll tax obligation by filling payroll tax statement. Also must check if it is necessary to pay VAT for the hiring services performance. This should be handled by a local registered accountant.
The employer must obey the rules regarding working period and the right of the holiday of the employees and also respect the fact that the employee has the right to the statutory minimum salary and a holiday indemnity.
The strategic location of Netherlands (in the Western Europe, with North Sea opening) is making it an appealing destination for the investors.
Holland also offers a competitive tax climate, an innovation environment, great infrastructure and well trained workforce.
The most developed sectors are the service sectors but also the industries like flowers, electronics, water technology and engineering.
The great infrastructure and the access to the sea is making easier to export goods so this domain is very developed.
Most investors choose to invest in Holland because of the advantageous tax climate. Holland is part of the Double Taxation Treaties so the foreign investors can beneficiate from low tax (in Holland) in many cases.
The benefits of a holding company in Netherlands are numerous especially regarding the fiscal policy.
Here are some of the most important benefits: flexible corporate regulations, tax relief on any equity and capital gains for branch that qualify for this, reduction and even the complete cancelation of the taxes on dividends-according to signed Double Taxation Treaties, 0% taxes on dividends and assets received from the branches (that meet the special criteria) in other EU or EER states ,possibility to operate in another currency than Euro and the possibility to submit corporate duty statement in a foreign exchange.
In case you would like to open a holding company in the Netherlands or any other type of company, our lawyers are at your disposal.