What DAFT is

DAFT (the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty of 1956) lets American citizens live in the Netherlands as entrepreneurs, on the condition that they invest and hold capital in their own Dutch business. The bar is set at €4,500 — held as capital, visible on the balance sheet, kept there for the duration.

The numbers

  • Capital: €4,500, held rather than spent.
  • Fee to the IND (the Dutch immigration service): €423.
  • Decision: commonly four to six weeks.
  • First permit: two years, renewable.
  • Family: a partner and children come along on the same application.

The trap

The capital has to sit as capital. Booking it as share premium, lending it to yourself, or spending it on equipment the week after arrival all break the test, and the renewal is where it surfaces. Put the €4,500 in as capital, keep the bank statement, and leave it alone.

Which structure fits

A sole trader qualifies, and so does a BV (besloten vennootschap, a Dutch private limited company). For a creator with real income the BV is usually the better home anyway, because it separates the channel from your private assets and prepares the holding above it. That ladder is in start here, and the arithmetic in how creators pay less tax.

What follows the permit

Registration with the municipality, the BSN (the Dutch citizen service number), a bank account and health cover, in that order — the sequence is set out in moving to Amsterdam. And once you are on your own payroll, the residence question meets the tax question: A multi-year lower customary salary agreed with the tax authority, combined with borrowing up to €500,000 from your own BV, saves roughly €18,000 to €20,000 a year in the growth phase.

American income keeps its own treatment on top: the 30% withholding on royalties drops to zero for Dutch residents, which is worked through in US withholding.