Profit per year:
Sole trader
income-tax entrepreneur, with the self-employed deduction and SME profit exemption
BV (with holding)
director salary, corporate tax, and the rest of the profit kept in the BV
If you paid everything out (adding box 2), you would keep privately:
The director salary is set at €58,000. If your profit is lower, the tool treats your whole profit as salary. A lower salary is possible in a few cases, such as a new BV for which the full salary is still too high. It must be substantiated, and preferably agreed with the tax authority in advance.
An indication on the 2026 rates, excluding personal tax credits, pensions and personal deductions; those make a difference per situation. Want it exact for your numbers? Let our team take a look, free of obligation.
What the calculator does
The sole-trader side computes: profit, minus the self-employed deduction (€1,200) and the 12.7% SME profit exemption, then box 1 income tax plus the income-dependent healthcare contribution. The BV side computes: a salary up to the customary €58,000 (box 1 and healthcare contribution on it) and corporate tax on the remainder: 19% on the first €200,000 of profit and 25.8% above that. The tool then shows what stays inside the BV, plus what you keep privately if you paid it all out as dividend under box 2. The full logic is written out in the arithmetic behind this calculator.
The tipping point above is purely financial. In practice it often comes earlier, for three reasons. Liability. A BV has its own obligations. Contracts, claims and debts stay with the company. Your home and savings remain yours. Counterparties. Large clients, platforms and lenders regularly ask for a BV before they sign. Retained profit. On profit you leave in the company, you pay 19% corporate tax up to €200,000. That is the main reason to have a holding structure. Each of these can be a reason to incorporate earlier than the calculation suggests. Read the full comparison in sole trader or BV.
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