How it works
DGA stands for directeur-grootaandeelhouder. The name says it: director and major shareholder in one person. Most Dutch owner-managed companies have a DGA, and so does a foreign founder who runs their own Dutch BV.
A DGA is an employee of their own company for payroll tax. The BV pays the DGA a salary and withholds wage tax, like any employer. The law sets a floor for that salary, the customary salary. For social insurance the DGA is usually outside the employee schemes, because the DGA controls their own dismissal.
The DGA has three ways to take money out of the BV: salary (box 1), dividend (box 2) and a loan from the BV (tax-free up to €500,000, above that taxed as dividend). The mix decides the tax bill. Salary is deductible for the BV and taxed in box 1; dividend is paid from profit after corporate tax and taxed in box 2.
A DGA who lives abroad stays a DGA for the Dutch BV. Where the salary is taxed then depends on the tax treaty and on where the work is done.
Example
A founder owns 100% of his BV and is its only director. He pays himself €58,000 salary, the customary salary for 2026. The BV makes €120,000 profit after that salary, pays 19% corporate tax and keeps the rest. In a good year he takes €60,000 dividend, taxed at 24.5% in box 2.
The figures
All 2026 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2026 · the 2027 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2027.
Questions people ask
Is a DGA insured for unemployment or disability?
A DGA who can decide on their own dismissal is outside the employee insurance schemes. Disability cover comes from a private policy or from savings inside the holding.
Can a DGA pay themselves less than the customary salary?
Yes, when the facts support it: a start-up phase, losses or a part-time role. The lower salary is agreed with the tax authority in advance, in writing.
Holdwise, Hoofddorp. Definition and explanation maintained with the Dutch and German glossaries; figures from the central rates source, year 2026. Updated 16 September 2026.
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