Selling into the EU, from a Dutch base

The licence that changes your cash flow

Import goods into the EU and import VAT of 21% is due at the border — cash out today, reclaimed months later. The Netherlands has a licence that removes that gap entirely: the Article 23 import VAT deferment. It shifts the import VAT to your periodic VAT return, where you declare and deduct it in the same filing. On a container worth €100,000 that is €21,000 that simply never leaves your account. It requires a Dutch establishment or a fiscal representative — and it is the single biggest reason international sellers route their EU imports through the Netherlands.

One VAT return for the whole EU

Sell to consumers across the EU and each sale carries the VAT of the customer’s country. From a Dutch base that is one quarterly return: the One Stop Shop (OSS) for goods shipped from EU stock, and the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) for parcels entering from outside. Sell through a marketplace and the platform is often the deemed supplier that settles consumer VAT — your BV then handles the import and B2B side.

The BV that carries it

A Dutch private limited company (BV) gives you what a distant entity cannot: an EU counterparty that payment providers, marketplaces and suppliers accept without friction, corporate tax at 19% on profit up to €200.000 (2026), and — with a holding on top — a structure where your brand and retained profit sit protected above the trading risk. Incorporation works remotely; pair it with the Article 23 licence and your EU operation stands in weeks.

Selling digital products or software instead? That is a different VAT world — start at the Netherlands for AI founders.