The BV is a private limited liability company with legal personality, of which risks are limited to the amounts invested by its shareholders. A BV’s capital is divided into one or more shares, whereas the holders are registered (in BV’s shareholders register). Since 1 October 2012 the BV regime has been made more flexible, whereas the minimum capital is decreased to € 0.01, BV’s capital can be divided into shares which have no voting power or profit rights attached to them (e.g. for the purpose of financiers) and the shareholders’ meeting can be held outside the Netherlands.

The Dutch BV (“besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid”) is the most commonly used legal form for doing business, act as a holding company, IP licensing company, finance company et cetera. For many of our expat clients, the BV is the company of choice to run their business, while living in the Netherlands and making use of the favorable 30% tax ruling for the salary they obtain from their company.

For more on the BV and other legal entities, we refer to our  legal forms section.

Our office has extensive experience with assisting foreign companies in starting (or expanding) a business in the Netherlands by means of a BV, NV, foundation or a branch. For more on this, we refer to our sections legal forms and branch vs. subsidiary. Besides establishing your Dutch company, our office is pleased to offer business services.

In case you are interested in how the Netherlands can help your business, please contact us to discuss your situation.