Company registration in the Netherlands from India: your own EU importer

Why the Netherlands, seen from India

English is the working language of Dutch business, and the legal system is strict but predictable. The tax treaty between the Netherlands and India has been in force since 1989. For an Indian founder, there are three advantages. First, you have a company inside the EU single market, and clients in Germany, France and the Nordic countries treat it as local. Second, the corporate tax rate on the first part of the profit is lower than in most of Western Europe. Third, under the treaty, Dutch dividend tax on dividends to India is at most 10%, compared with the normal rate of 15%.

Each subsidiary pays profit tax in its own country. A subsidiary managed from India is also resident in India (place of effective management, Income-tax Act 2025, section 6(10)). Dividends to your Indian company can be free of Dutch dividend tax (Dividend Tax Act 1965, Article 4). India taxes the dividends and gives a credit for the Dutch tax.

Documents from India: how the apostille works

India joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2005, and the Netherlands is also a member. An apostille from India replaces legalisation at an embassy.

1. The list. Our team sends you the list of documents and the power of attorney for the notary.
2. The apostille. You sign in India and have passports and the power of attorney legalised with an apostille from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
3. The courier. You send the originals by courier to the Netherlands.
4. The deed. The Dutch notary signs the deed, and your BV is registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK).

Documents in English are accepted as they are. Documents in Hindi need a sworn translation into Dutch, English, French or German, and a translation made in India also needs an apostille. See documents for a Dutch BV from abroad for the exact list per document.

Your Dutch company as EU importer of record

Under EU customs law, the declarant for an import is established in the EU, with a few exceptions such as transit (Union Customs Code, Article 170). Your Dutch BV meets that requirement. These are the EU importer of record requirements your BV covers:

• Customs number. An EORI number for every import declaration.
• VAT. A Dutch VAT number and the Article 23 licence, so the import VAT goes into the VAT return.
• The EU importer label. For consumer products, the importer puts its name and postal and electronic address on the product (General Product Safety Regulation, Article 11).
• Carbon border tax (CBAM). For more than 50 tonnes a year of steel or aluminium, authorised CBAM declarant status. See CBAM and India.
• Lower duties. Once the EU-India trade agreement applies, your BV claims the lower duty with the statement on origin from your Indian company.

Read more in EU-India trade agreement 2027: what changes for Indian exporters, importer of record in the EU and importing and distributing through the Netherlands.

A family member in the Netherlands as director

Under Dutch law a BV is always resident in the Netherlands for tax. Another country can also treat it as resident when its effective management is there, which means where decisions are taken. Over time, a company that is owned and run only from India is managed from India and taxed there. Some Indian families choose a different set-up from the start. They hold the shares in India and place the management in the Netherlands, with a relative of their own who lives here. This can be a son or daughter on a knowledge-migrant contract, or a brother or sister with a residence permit. The family chooses this person and appoints them as managing director itself.

With this choice, the BV is managed in the Netherlands. When you open a bank account, the bank can check a director who lives in the Netherlands. The family in India keeps the ownership and receives the dividends at the 10% treaty rate. We write the governance rules between the shareholders and your director: the director’s tasks and powers, and the decisions that need shareholder approval. Both sides then know who decides what.

The steps, in order

Structure first. The shares can be held personally from India, by an Indian parent company or by a Dutch personal holding of a family member here. Each option is taxed differently on dividends and on a sale. A change later costs notary fees and can cost extra tax. We plan the structure with you before anything is signed. Then the incorporation. The steps are the apostilled documents, the power of attorney, the notary, registration with KVK (the Dutch trade register) and the tax numbers. The BV is set up usually within one week once all documents are complete, and everything is in English. Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT. Then banking. Dutch and EU banks run full know-your-customer checks (KYC) on the ownership chain. With a director who lives in the Netherlands and a complete file, the bank checks the file in a fixed order. See registering a Dutch company remotely for all the steps.

What we do

We design and set up Dutch structures for international founders. This includes the incorporation and the governance rules between shareholders in India and your director here. It also includes the tax registrations, the customs number and a written plan you can give to your bank or your family. All contact is in English. The advice is based on the 2026 figures, with the reasoning written out.

Use the form to tell us who owns the company, who manages it and what it should do in Europe. Our team looks at your situation and replies personally.

Sources: Hague Conference on Private International Law, status of the Apostille Convention (India: in force since 14 July 2005); Government of the Netherlands, legalisation of documents from India (2025); Regulation (EU) 952/2013, Union Customs Code, Article 170; Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, Article 11 (2023). Last reviewed: October 2026.

When you work with local banks and advisers, you can also use the Dutch page ondernemen vanuit India.