The treaty in numbers
The treaty dates from 1956 and remains fully in force. Where other nationalities face the regular self-employment scheme with its points assessment, US citizens qualify on the investment test alone: the money is in the company, the company is real, the permit follows. Americans apply from within the Netherlands — you arrive, register, and file with the IND.
Why the BV is the vehicle
DAFT works with a sole proprietorship or a BV. Most founders who plan to stay choose the BV, for three reasons. The €4,500 sits cleanly in the company as capital, evidenced for the IND by a brief accountant’s statement. Liability stays with the company while you build in a new country. And the structure scales past the visa: profit at 19%, a holding above it when the numbers grow, and a clean story for banks and clients. The comparison with keeping a US LLC is worked out in Dutch BV vs US LLC; what the US side keeps taxing regardless is on the US founders page.
The sequence that works
1. Design the structure. Single BV or holding-plus-operating, where the €4,500 sits, and what your US tax position looks like alongside it — decided on paper first. 2. Incorporate the BV. Notary, KVK registration, tax numbers; one to three weeks, and the incorporation itself runs fine while you are still in the US. 3. Fund and evidence. The capital lands in the company account; the accountant’s statement confirms it. 4. File with the IND. KVK extract, capital evidence, passport — the DAFT test is exactly that short. 5. Settle in. BSN, Dutch health insurance (required from day one of residence), and payroll for your DGA salary once the company pays you.
Family travels with you: your spouse and children receive residence alongside yours, and your spouse is free to work in employment. That single fact makes DAFT the family route as much as the founder route.
The tax picture after landing
Once resident, you run the normal Dutch owner mechanics: a DGA salary against the customary-salary rules, profit in the BV at 19% up to €200.000, dividend in box 2 when you choose to take it. Every figure sits on Netherlands tax rates 2026. The US files alongside — citizenship-based taxation means the two systems need to be designed together, which is precisely the work we do before the notary appointment.
The complete DAFT library
Twenty-one guides, grouped the way the route itself runs. Start at the top if you are still orienting; jump straight to a group if you already know where you are.
Start here: the route
Your company
Taxes
Living here
The long term, and the alternatives
Alongside the library, the Dutch BV for US citizens covers how the company serves as EU base and residence vehicle at once.
What we do
Holdwise designs and builds the structure under your DAFT route: the BV itself, the capital and its evidence, the holding question, and the written plan that covers both the IND file and your first year of Dutch taxes. You correspond in English; the advice arrives on the 2026 figures, with the reasoning written out. Tell us below where you stand — still in the US, already here, or somewhere in between.
Would you like our team to take a look at your situation?
Tell us where you stand or what you’re planning. Our team replies with advice, free of any obligation.