Family Office in the Netherlands: How to Set One Up and What It Does

What a family office is

A family office is not a legal form. It is a way of organising the wealth of one family in one place: the family business, the real estate, the investments, the tax returns, the gifts to children and the giving to good causes. A single-family office works for one family and has its own staff. A multi-family office does the same work for several families and shares the cost. Most families in the Netherlands sit between those two: they own the structure themselves and hand the daily work to an outside team.

The structure underneath is almost always the same. It has three building blocks.

The three building blocks

1. The personal holding company

A holding company is a Dutch private limited company (a BV) that owns the shares of the family business and the investments. Profit that a subsidiary pays up to the holding is free of tax under the participation exemption, the Dutch rule that says a company pays no tax on profit it receives from a company it owns 5% or more of. The same rule makes a later sale of the business free of tax at the level of the holding. How the holding works, what it saves and what it costs: the Dutch holding structure.

2. The STAK foundation for control

A STAK (stichting administratiekantoor) is a foundation that holds the shares and gives out certificates. The certificate holders receive the dividends; the board of the STAK keeps the votes. That is how a founder gives the next generation the value of the shares without giving away the control, and how a family keeps one voice towards the company while several members own a part. Read how the STAK works.

3. A foundation for giving

Families that give to good causes often set up a charitable foundation with ANBI status, the Dutch recognition for public benefit organisations. Gifts to it are deductible for the giver, and the foundation pays no gift or inheritance tax on what it receives. It sits next to the holding, never inside it.

Why families choose the Netherlands

Participation exemption. Dividends and sale proceeds between group companies are free of corporate tax. This is the base of every Dutch family structure.
Separation of control and value. The STAK is a Dutch invention and Dutch notaries, banks and the tax office know it well.
Business succession relief. When a family business passes to the next generation, the business succession scheme (bedrijfsopvolgingsregeling, BOR) exempts a large part of the value from gift and inheritance tax, under conditions such as a holding period.
Treaties and stability. The Netherlands has one of the widest treaty networks in the world, a predictable tax office and courts that work in English when needed.
Everything in English. Notaries, banks and administrators work with international families every day.

The tax rules a family office works with (2026)

Rule	2026	What it means for the family
Corporate tax	19% up to €200,000 profit, 25.8% above	Paid by the companies in the structure on their own profit
Participation exemption	100% from a 5% stake	No tax on dividends and sale proceeds inside the group
Box 2 (dividend to a private person)	24.5% up to €68,843, 31% above	Paid only when money leaves the holding to a family member
Box 3 (private savings and investments)	36% on a deemed return	Private wealth; investments inside the holding fall under corporate tax instead
Gift and inheritance tax, children	10% and 20%	With exemptions per year and the business succession scheme for the family business

Sources: tax office, corporate tax rates; tax office, participation exemption; tax office, box 2; tax office, business succession scheme. Checked 22 September 2026. All 2027 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2027.

Three governance models

Governance is the word for who decides what. Three models are common in the Netherlands.

Owner-run. The founder or one family member decides, with a notary, a tax adviser and an administrator around them. The STAK board is the founder. Simple, cheap, and the usual first step.
Family board. A board of two or three family members plus one or two outsiders. A written family charter says how decisions are made, how a family member joins or leaves, and what happens with the company in the next generation. The STAK board is this board.
Professional office. The family appoints a director and staff for the office. The family sits on a supervisory board and receives quarterly reports. This model suits wealth from several tens of millions upwards, when the cost of staff is small next to the return.

What a family office does, month by month

Bookkeeping and reporting for each company and, if wanted, for each family member.
The VAT returns, the corporate tax returns, the annual accounts and the filings at the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) and the UBO register.
The salary and dividend plan for the family members who work in the business: the director salary calculator shows the 2026 and 2027 figures.
The registers and resolutions of the holding and the STAK, so every decision is on paper.
Oversight of real estate and investments: what is held privately, what is held in the holding, and why. See box 3 or a BV.
The plan for gifts, succession and a possible sale: the sale calculator shows what a sale leaves after tax.

When a family office makes sense

There is no minimum. The question is whether the yearly cost of organising the wealth is small next to what the wealth returns. Three situations where families in the Netherlands set one up:

The family business is worth more than the family can afford to lose. The holding and the STAK separate the business from private life and from each other.
More than one generation owns a part. Without a STAK, every decision needs every owner. With a STAK, one board decides and everyone receives their share.
A sale, a move abroad or an inheritance is coming. The structure must be in place years before, because of the holding periods in the tax rules.

How it is set up, step by step

The map. One drawing of what the family owns today, who owns what, and where the money comes from.
The decisions. Who controls, who receives, what happens at a death, a divorce or a sale. This becomes the family charter and the STAK conditions.
The notary. The holding companies and the STAK are set up in one notary session, by power of attorney for family members abroad.
Banking and registrations. Bank accounts for each company, the tax numbers, the UBO registration.
The administration. Bookkeeping, filings and reporting start in the first month. The family receives one written overview every year.

A family that already has a holding starts at step 2. A family from abroad starts with company formation in the Netherlands for non-residents for the documents from their country.

What Holdwise does

Holdwise designs the structure with the family, sets up the companies and the STAK with the notary, arranges the registered address and the bank file, and runs the administration afterwards: the bookkeeping, the returns, the annual accounts, the registers and the yearly overview. Specialist work, such as a will, a marriage contract or a cross-border tax ruling, goes to a notary or tax lawyer that Holdwise works with, and Holdwise stays the one point of contact for the family. Written advice comes first: a written structure review.

Questions families ask

How do you build a family office in the Netherlands?

Most families start with three parts: a personal holding company (a BV) that owns the investments and the family business, a STAK foundation that keeps the voting control in a few hands while the economic rights go to the family members, and a written agreement on who decides what. The administration, reporting and tax filings are then done by the family itself, by an outside team, or by a mix of both.

What services does a family office provide?

Bookkeeping and reporting for every company and every family member, tax returns and the yearly filings, dividend and salary planning, the paperwork of the holding and the STAK (registers, resolutions, UBO), oversight of real estate and investments, and the planning of gifts, succession and the sale of a business. A larger office adds investment management, family governance and philanthropy.

Which governance models do family offices in the Netherlands use?

Three models are common. The owner-run model: one family member decides, with outside advisers. The family board: a small board of family members and one or two outsiders, with a written family charter. The professional office: the family appoints a director and staff, and the family sits on a supervisory board. A STAK foundation works with all three, because it separates control from ownership.

Is there a minimum amount of wealth for a family office?

There is no legal minimum. A dedicated office with its own staff becomes worthwhile when the yearly cost of that office is small next to the return on the family wealth; in practice that is from several million euros. Below that, most families use the same structure (holding plus STAK) with an outside team for the administration, which gives the same control at a fraction of the cost.

Family office or a foundation: what is the difference?

A family office is an organisation: people and a way of working. A foundation is a legal form. In the Netherlands two foundations are common in family structures: the STAK, which holds the shares and issues certificates to the family, and a charitable foundation (with ANBI status) for giving. A family office usually uses both.

What does Holdwise do for a family?

Holdwise designs the structure with you, sets up the holding companies and the STAK with the notary, arranges the registered address and the bank file, and runs the administration: bookkeeping, VAT and corporate tax returns, annual accounts, the registers and resolutions, and a written yearly overview for the family. Specialist work, such as a will or a cross-border tax ruling, goes to a notary or tax lawyer we work with, and Holdwise stays the one point of contact.

A family office in the Netherlands: how families set one up, and what it does