AI & Software

Hiring freelancers worldwide from your Dutch BV

Updated: 21 July 2026 Holdwise editorial team Freelancers Remote team Reverse charge

Your Dutch BV can hire freelancers in any country, as long as they are really independent. Many solo founders let software agents do the repetitive work and use a small group of freelancers for the rest.

Short answer

Your Dutch BV can hire freelancers anywhere. Real contractors send you an invoice, and you pay the gross amount. These payments stay outside Dutch payroll. EU freelancers with a VAT number send an invoice with the VAT reverse charged. You declare the VAT and deduct it in the same return. Freelancers outside the EU usually invoice outside EU VAT, and you declare the VAT in the same way. Watch two limits. Someone who works under your direction and on your schedule can count as an employee, whatever the contract says. A person who acts for you abroad with authority can also create a taxable permanent establishment for your BV in that country.

At Holdwise, we keep this answer up to date and change it when the rules change.

When the freelancer is a real contractor

A real contractor has their own business, several clients and their own tools, and decides how the work is done. Such a freelancer invoices your BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) like any other supplier. You pay the gross invoice and book it as a cost. The freelancer pays their own taxes in their own country. Put a short agreement in place with the scope, rate, term and confidentiality. Above all, include an IP assignment, in which the freelancer transfers the rights to the work. Everything made for you then belongs to your BV or your holding, as described in the IP guide. If that clause is missing, the freelancer can keep rights in your code.

VAT on invoices from freelancers

An EU freelancer with a valid VAT number sends a VAT-free invoice under the reverse charge. You declare Dutch VAT on the purchase and deduct it in the same return, so the net amount is zero. For this, the freelancer needs your VAT number. Freelancers outside the EU invoice outside EU VAT, and you declare the VAT yourself in the same way. The main risk is paying foreign VAT because your VAT number was missing. You often lose that VAT for good. With one field for VAT numbers in every onboarding form, you avoid this problem. You find the same approach in the bookkeeping guide.

Two risks to watch

Disguised employment: fixed hours, working under your direction, only one client and your equipment. In most countries, this counts as employment under labour and tax law, whatever the contract says. You then have local payroll duties. Pay contractors for results and let them choose how they work. For someone who works as staff in practice, use an employer-of-record, a local company that employs the person for you. Permanent establishment: usually, a contractor abroad is only a supplier for tax purposes. A person who regularly signs contracts in your name can create a taxable presence for your BV in that country. The same applies if that person has premises at your disposal. Keep the power to sign contracts with your BV in the Netherlands. Pay contractors for finished work, and let them act as suppliers only.

A company outside the EU can use these rules through a Dutch partner. See fiscal representation for non-EU importers for what that partner does and how the costs are built up. There you also read when your own Dutch company is the better option.

Every quarter and every year, a Dutch company keeps records and files returns. What does it cost to hand this work over? See bookkeeping in the Netherlands for owners abroad.

Paying and keeping records

Pay each invoice from the BV’s account. Use multi-currency payments where this saves conversion costs. Keep each invoice and the proof of payment for seven years, as Dutch law requires. If you work through a platform that acts as intermediary, the platform is often your supplier. You then get one invoice from the platform, with the VAT reverse charged. The platform deals with the people behind it. You can read about the full team structure, including the holding, in the solo holding.

Free advice

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Part of Doing Business in the Netherlands, the complete 2026 guide.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to check a freelancer's tax status in their country? +

Their personal taxes are their own responsibility. You do need proof that they work as a business: a VAT number, a registration and invoices in a business name. You also need this proof for the reverse charge and for deducting the costs.

What about hiring a Dutch freelancer? Are the rules different? +

The same independence test applies. A Dutch freelancer also charges 21% Dutch VAT on the invoice, which you deduct. The Dutch Tax Administration actively checks for disguised employment, so make sure the freelancer really works independently.

When does an employer-of-record make sense? +

When someone works as an employee in practice, in a country where you lack a company. They work your hours, under your direction, for an open-ended period. An employer-of-record (EOR) then employs them locally and invoices your BV. This way, you avoid both risks.

Sources Belastingdienst · KVK · wetten.overheid.nl Last updated: 21 July 2026