What still applies

  • Annual accounts: prepared, adopted and filed on the normal calendar. A dormant balance sheet is short, but the deadline is the same.
  • Corporate tax return: filed on invitation, also at zero activity.
  • The registers: the Dutch trade register (KVK), the UBO register and the shareholder register stay up to date.
  • The address: the company stays reachable, in line with the address requirements.

You can end the VAT and payroll registrations. Deregister the VAT number when the taxed activity ends, and close the payroll when the last employee leaves. With these two letters, you stop two recurring filings.

Why companies keep a dormant BV

Some owners keep a dormant BV for its name and history, or for a licence. Others want a company that is ready for a new business. Reactivation takes little work, see reactivating a dormant BV. The yearly cost is the annual accounts and the time to meet the deadlines.

If you already have a Dutch company and want help with the paperwork, see corporate services in the Netherlands. One English-speaking team can do the bookkeeping, the VAT, the payroll, the annual accounts and the KVK filings for you.

The bookkeeping can be handed over while you live abroad. On bookkeeping in the Netherlands you can read what you send, what is filed for you and what you get back.

When to end the BV

If you want to end the BV, you can do this quickly. With zero assets and zero debts, you can dissolve it within weeks through a turboliquidation (a fast dissolution). See dissolving a Dutch BV for the steps. Compare the costs of keeping a dormant BV for years with the one-off cost of closing it.