Asia & World

Indian Family Businesses: An EU Headquarters in the Netherlands

Updated: 19 August 2026 Holdwise editorial team India Family business Headquarters

An Indian family group can hold all its European companies under one Dutch holding company. Many Indian families have run businesses in Europe for decades, such as trading companies, acquisitions and ventures of the next generation. With a Dutch holding, the family keeps control and can use the tax treaty in both directions. At Holdwise, we keep this answer up to date and change it when the rules change.

The Dutch holding above the European operations

The Dutch holding owns the European companies, such as subsidiaries, acquisitions and joint ventures. Dividends and sale gains from qualifying stakes fall under the participation exemption at 0%. See how a holding company works. The holding can pay profits to India under the tax treaty, including its most-favoured-nation (MFN) clause. See the Dutch tax treaty network. On the Indian side, you arrange the paperwork under the ODI framework. See the ODI process for a Dutch subsidiary.

Indian founders can read how the EU-India trade agreement affects a Dutch subsidiary.

Dutch instruments for family governance

The Dutch kit matches family logic unusually well: the STAK separates control from economics. The patriarch’s board votes; the branches receive certificates: the instrument. The wider setup scales to a genuine family office when the balance sheet justifies it: that guide. Substance is designed in from the start, in proportion to the claims made: the standard.

Compare the Netherlands with Ireland and Germany on tax, substance, running costs and time. See setting up a Dutch subsidiary for a foreign parent company.

When more than one generation owns a part of the business, the family has to agree who decides and who receives the dividends. In the Netherlands, this is arranged with a foundation that issues depositary receipts (STAK). Read more about this on a family office in the Netherlands.

A role for the next generation

Often, a family member of the next generation relocates to the Netherlands to run the European business. The Dutch company sponsors the residence permit. See the process for highly skilled migrants. Plan the relocation of the household as well. See the relocation map. As the portfolio expands, the role can change from a trading desk to a full headquarters. See why more Asian family offices come to Amsterdam.

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

Frequently asked questions

Holding in the Netherlands, operations elsewhere in the EU: does that work? +

Yes, this is the standard structure. The Dutch holding owns operating companies in, for example, Germany, France or Poland, under the participation exemption. You have one address for governance and one tax treaty with India. You can draw the whole structure in an afternoon.

How does the family keep control across branches and generations? +

With a STAK. The votes are held by a board that the family sets up. The family branches receive the economic rights as certificates, under the family’s own rules. For succession, the family uses the agreed governance rules. This prevents disputes.

When was this last checked? +

Reviewed on 19 August 2026. These instruments and structures are current.

Sources Belastingdienst · KVK · wetten.overheid.nl Last updated: 19 August 2026