Exit Calculator 2026: Selling Privately or Through a Holding

What do you keep when you sell your company?

Compare the same sale in two ways. You own the shares in your own name, or your holding owns them. Fill in the price. You see the tax on the day of the sale, what you take out and what stays in your holding.

Short answerIf you sell the shares in your own name, you pay box 2 tax on the whole gain at once. The rate is 24.5% on the first €68,843 and 31% above that. If you sell through a holding, the gain is tax-free in the holding (the participation exemption). You pay tax only on what you take out, when you take it out. Source: Dutch tax office, checked 5 September 2026.

Selling privately or through a holding

Rates 2026. The written advice is for your own situation.

1. Sale price of the shares

€

2. What you paid for the shares (the capital you put in)

€

3. What you want to take out privately this year

€

Only relevant if you sell through a holding: the rest stays in the holding, untaxed.

4. Where do you live?

5. Do you have a tax partner?

Partners each have a first bracket of €68,843 at 24.5%.

5. Dutch withholding on dividend under the treaty with your country

6. Tax on capital gains and dividend in your own country

Result

…

Three things to know

The holding must be there first. Set it up at the start, or well before you talk to a buyer. The tax office can challenge a holding that is set up just before the sale.
You decide when to pay. Money in the holding is taxed only when you take it out. If you spread it over several years and over both partners, you can use the low bracket again every year.
You can use the money in the holding. From the holding you can invest, buy property or start your next company, before you pay any box 2 tax.

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Rates 2026: box 2 24.5% up to €68,843 and 31% above; participation exemption for a holding with 5% or more. If the company sells its business assets and you keep the shares, the tax is different. This is a first estimate. The written advice is for your own situation.

Frequently asked questions

How is the sale of a Dutch company taxed?

If you own the shares privately, you pay box 2 tax on the gain in the year of the sale. The rate is 24.5% on the first 68,843 euros and 31% above that. If a holding owns the shares, the gain is exempt for the holding under the participation exemption. You pay tax only when you take money out of the holding.

Can I set up the holding just before the sale?

A holding put in place shortly before a sale can be challenged by the tax office. Set it up at the start, or well before you talk to a buyer.

Why a holding saves tax on the day you sell

When you own the shares in your own name, the buyer pays you. You then pay box 2 tax on the whole gain in that one year. When your holding owns the shares, the buyer pays the holding. The gain is exempt for the holding. Under the participation exemption, the profit a company makes from selling a subsidiary is exempt from tax. The money is now in your holding. You pay box 2 tax only on what you take out, when you take it out. Most sellers take out what they need and leave the rest in the holding.

How do you get the money out of your holding?

This calculator is for the day of the sale. The sale planner is for the years after it. In the planner you compare four options with your own figures. You can take everything out at once or pay yourself a part each year. You can also borrow from your holding first or leave the Netherlands. You see the tax for each option and what is left after ten, twenty or thirty years.

What do you keep when you sell your company?

Selling privately or through a holding

Frequently asked questions

Why a holding saves tax on the day you sell

How do you get the money out of your holding?

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