How to build a family office in the Netherlands
- The family maps everything it owns in one drawing of the companies, the property and the investments, showing who owns what and where the income comes from.
- The family decides who votes, who receives the income, and what happens on a death, a divorce or a sale.
- A civil-law notary signs a deed for each holding company and for the STAK, and family members abroad sign through a power of attorney.
- A lawyer or notary drafts the family charter, the shareholder agreement and the rules of the STAK, known as the administration conditions.
- Each company receives its tax numbers and a bank account. The owners are entered in the register of the people who ultimately own or control a company, the ultimate beneficial owners (UBO).
- The administration starts in the first month, with bookkeeping, tax returns and one yearly report for the family.
A family that already has a holding company starts at step 2. A family from abroad starts with company formation in the Netherlands for non-residents.
Types of family office structures
A family can employ its own team, share a team with other families or hire outside specialists for the work.
| Type | What it is | Suits a family that |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family office | A team employed by one family, working only for that family. | Wants full control and can pay for its own staff. |
| Multi-family office | One team that serves several families and shares the cost. | Wants a professional team at a shared cost. |
| Outsourced family office | The family owns the structure, and outside specialists do the work. | Wants control with low fixed costs. |
The legal structure is the same in each case. A personal holding company (BV) owns the shares of the family business and the investments, and each family member can have a personal holding company of their own. The STAK is the legal owner of those shares and votes on them, while family members hold depositary receipts that give them the dividends. Read more about the Dutch STAK foundation.
Families that give to good causes often add a charity that the Dutch tax office recognises as a public benefit organisation (algemeen nut beogende instelling, ANBI). Gifts to an ANBI can be tax deductible for the giver, within limits.
Advantages of setting up a family office in the Netherlands
Under the participation exemption, dividends and sale gains from a shareholding of 5% or more are exempt from Dutch corporate tax, under conditions (2026), so the holding receives the profit tax-free. Dutch dividend withholding tax is 15%. A parent company in the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA) or a treaty country with a shareholding of 5% or more can be exempt, subject to anti-abuse rules (2026). The Netherlands has tax treaties with about 100 countries, including all six Gulf states.
A STAK lets the founder keep the votes while passing the value of the shares to the next generation. The business succession scheme (bedrijfsopvolgingsregeling, BOR) can exempt a large part of the value of a family business from gift and inheritance tax. Conditions apply, such as a minimum period of ownership. Business is easily done in English, as the Netherlands ranks first in the world for English (EF English Proficiency Index 2025).
Family office services in the Netherlands
Every month a family office does the same work for every company, and for every family member who wants it.
- Bookkeeping and one yearly report on the whole family structure.
- VAT returns, corporate tax returns, annual accounts and the filings at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK).
- The registers and resolutions of the holding companies and the STAK.
- The plan for salaries, dividends and loans for family members who work in the business, which you can check with the director salary calculator.
- An overview of what the family owns privately, what the holding owns, and why. The calculator box 3 or a BV compares the Dutch tax on private savings and investments (box 3) with the tax inside a company.
- The plan for gifts, succession and a possible sale, with the calculator what you keep when you sell.
| Work | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Structure design and tax planning | Our team |
| Holding companies and STAK | Our team, with a civil-law notary for the deeds |
| Family charter and shareholder agreement | We prepare the tax and structure part; a lawyer or notary drafts the legal text |
| Bookkeeping, tax returns, annual accounts and registers | Our backoffice team |
| Bank file for each company | We prepare it; the bank decides |
| Investment advice and asset management | A licensed investment firm or bank, chosen by the family |
| Wills and marriage contracts | A civil-law notary |
Investment advice and asset management require a licence in the Netherlands, so our work covers the structure, the companies, the tax and the administration. The board of the STAK consists of family members or people the family chooses.
Shareholder agreements and family charters
A family records how it works together in a shareholder agreement, a family charter and the administration conditions of the STAK. The shareholder agreement is a binding contract between the owners. It covers who may buy or sell shares and at what price, what happens when owners disagree and how an owner leaves. The family charter records the values and rules of the family. Examples are who can work in the business, how the next generation joins the board and how the family settles a dispute. The administration conditions set the rules for the board of the STAK, the votes and the depositary receipts.
A lawyer or a notary drafts the legal texts, and we make sure the tax and the structure match what the documents say.
Family office governance models
Governance settles who decides what. In the owner-led model the founder decides, with help from a notary, a tax adviser and an administrator, and also forms the board of the STAK. It is the cheapest model, and many families start with it.
In the family board model, two or three family members and one or two outsiders decide together under a family charter. The same people form the board of the STAK. In the professional office model the family appoints a director and staff, and family members form a supervisory board that receives a report every quarter.
A STAK can be used with each model, because it keeps control apart from ownership.
Criteria for evaluating a family office
A good family office records the votes, the decisions and the succession of board members on paper. Its yearly cost is small compared with the return on the family wealth. Its structure uses the participation exemption, the dividend withholding exemption and the right tax treaty, and it meets the anti-abuse rules. The roles are kept separate, with a licensed firm managing the investments, an administrator keeping the books and a notary signing the deeds.
The family receives one report every year on all companies and all assets. The family charter, the STAK rules and the wills match each other. The UBO register, the customer files at the banks and the tax filings are kept up to date.
Cost-effective family office models
The outsourced model keeps the cost low. The family owns the structure, meaning the holding companies and a STAK. An outside team handles the bookkeeping, the tax returns and the yearly report, and a licensed investment firm chosen by the family manages the investments. The family board meets a few times a year to discuss one report.
This model gives the same control as a single-family office at a much lower cost, and the family can hire its own staff later as the work grows.
Tax rules a family office works with (2026)
| Rule | 2026 | What it means for the family |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 19% on profit up to €200,000, 25.8% above | Each company pays it on its own profit. |
| Participation exemption | Dividends and sale gains exempt, from a 5% shareholding | The holding receives the profit tax-free. |
| Box 2 (shareholding of 5% or more) | 24.5% up to €68,843, 31% above | A family member who lives in the Netherlands pays it on dividends and sale gains. |
| Box 3 (private savings and investments) | 36% on a return that the law assumes | Applies to the private wealth of residents. Investments inside the holding fall under corporate tax. |
| Dividend withholding tax | 15%, with an exemption for parent companies that meet the conditions | Applies to dividends paid out of the Netherlands. |
| Conditional withholding tax | 25.8% on interest, royalties and dividends | Applies to payments to related companies in jurisdictions on a Dutch list of low-tax jurisdictions. Our team checks the list for your situation. |
The rates for the following year are in Netherlands tax rates 2027.
Families from the Gulf: treaty facts
The Netherlands has a tax treaty with each of the six Gulf states. Dutch law exempts dividends paid to a parent company in a treaty country that owns 5% or more, subject to anti-abuse rules. In other cases the treaty caps the Dutch dividend withholding tax at the rates in the table.
| Gulf state of the parent company | Treaty rate for a large shareholding | Treaty rate, other shareholdings | Large shareholding means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 5% | 10% | 10% or more |
| United Arab Emirates | 5% | 10% | 10% or more |
| Qatar | 0% | 10% | 7.5% or more, owned by a company |
| Kuwait | 0% | 10% | 10% or more |
| Oman | 0%; up to 10% in some cases | 10% | 10% or more |
| Bahrain | 0%; up to 10% in some cases | 10% | 10% or more |
- For Oman and Bahrain, the 0% treaty rate applies to a company there with an active business, with shares traded on the local stock exchange, or owned only by the government. In other cases the Netherlands may levy up to 10% when Oman or Bahrain taxes the dividend at less than 10%. The tax authorities of both countries can also agree on the 0% rate (treaty Article 10).
- A Dutch company withholds 0% Dutch tax on interest and royalties. The exception is the conditional withholding tax of 25.8% (2026) on interest, royalties and dividends paid to related companies in jurisdictions on the Dutch low-tax list. Bahrain is on the 2026 list, and our team checks the list for your situation.
- Documents from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain can be certified with an apostille, an international stamp that confirms a public document is genuine. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait are outside the Apostille Convention, so their documents go through a longer legalisation process (Hague Conference on Private International Law, HCCH, June 2026).
- All six Gulf states are outside the EU list of high-risk third countries for money laundering (European Commission, January 2026), although banks still check every owner themselves.
More on setting up a Dutch company from the UAE and family offices for Gulf families.
The treaty table, the documents and the bank file for Gulf families are collected in the Dutch holding for Gulf owners and families.
What we arrange for your family
The family designs the structure with us, and we set up the holding companies and the STAK with the notary. Our team prepares the bank file and handles the administration, from bookkeeping, tax returns and annual accounts to the registers and one yearly report. For wills, marriage contracts and the legal text of agreements we work with a notary or a lawyer. We remain the family’s contact for all of it.
You receive a proposal with the price for a holding with an operating company before you decide. Other work for a family structure is priced separately, and you see the price first.
A simple drawing of what the family owns is enough to start.
Sources
- Belastingdienst, corporate income tax rates (2026)
- Belastingdienst, participation exemption (2026)
- Belastingdienst, box 2 rates (2026)
- Business.gov.nl, dividend tax (2026)
- Dutch tax treaties with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, dividend articles (2026)
- HCCH, Apostille Convention status table (June 2026)
- European Commission, EU list of high-risk third countries (January 2026)
- EF English Proficiency Index (2025)
Last reviewed: October 2026.