Step-by-step plan: Transferring an agricultural business
Is someone taking over your agricultural business? Is the legal structure changing or is your business closing down? Inform the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) of this change. Read which steps you need to take.
Determine which situation applies to you
There are different types of business transfers. Determine which situation applies to you (in Dutch) and what you need to arrange in that situation. Are you ending your business and not transferring anything? Then you will still need to arrange some things but only need to follow steps 1, 3, 4, and 5.
Are you an heir, adviser, or third party wanting to arrange matters on behalf of a deceased person? The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has information on what you need to do in the event of the death of a farm operator (in Dutch).
The changes you need to report to KVK depend on the situation. Ask KVK if a new KVK number is needed in your situation. Choose your situation and report the changes to KVK
For other changes, contact KVK.
Arrange a new eHerkenning with level 2+ or 3. You can find all suppliers on eHerkenning.nl. Do not forget to cancel your old eHerkenning if you no longer need it.
Read more about applying for eHerkenning.
You will need the customer number of the acquiring party. Do you already have this? Then proceed to step 4. Is the acquiring party not known to RVO? Then they must first register with RVO (in Dutch). The acquiring party will then receive a customer number.
You can obtain a new customer number by logging in to mijn.rvo.nl with your new KVK number and your new eHerkenning. At the top of the page, click on ‘Inloggen’. RVO will then register your data.. Are you continuing as a hobby? Then log in with your citizen service number (BSN) and your DigiD.
You will need the customer number of the authorised representative. This is the person who may arrange things in your name with RVO. Do you already have this or do you want to authorise yourself using your citizen service number (BSN)? Then continue with step 4. If the authorised representative is not known to RVO, they must first register with RVO (in Dutch). The authorised representative will then receive a customer number.
Read more about authorising someone or being authorised (in Dutch) on RVO.nl.
You can no longer log in on Mijn RVO if your business is deregistered fron KVK. Arrange an authorisation with RVO for the deregistered KVK number. You can authorise (machtigen) yourself or someone else on behalf of your old company. This way you can update details for 1 year and view the old file for 5 years.
Which authorisations do you have with RVO?
Do you have authorisations (machtigingen) with RVO? And do you want to arrange the same authorisations for the new company? Then write down your current authorisations or take a screenshot of them.
You can find the authorisations in Mijn dossier on mijn.rvo.nl. Log in, go to Mijn dossier, and then to Mijn machtigingen. Do this before requesting the authorisation in step 4. Because you can no longer see this information if you log in with a new authorisation.
Is your authorisation with RVO active? Then report the transfer or end of the company to RVO. You have 30 days to do this after KVK has removed the old KVK number from the Business Register. You report the change using the form Melding overdracht of beëindiging agrarisch bedrijf (in Dutch) on RVO.nl.
In the RVO article Stappenplan agrarisch bedrijf overdragen (in Dutch), you can read which steps to follow under step 6. Also read the points of attention (in Dutch) for more information on filling in the form. And on what else you need to arrange separately from the form. RVO will process your change within 6 weeks.
Is someone taking over your business? Then that party has to sign the business transfer notification. The buying party will receive an e-mail about this.
You must also pass on your new details to other authorities and business partners:
Do you have identification and registration (I&R) reports made through your management programme? Then request a new user code and password from RVO. Please contact (in Dutch) RVO by telephone to arrange this. Then you must enter this new data into the management programme. Your software supplier can help you with this.
Have you applied for an ANLb subsidy (Agrarisch Natuur- en Landschapsbeheer, ANLb, in Dutch) from a collective? This is a collaboration of farmers and other managers of agricultural land. Then report the change there as well.
Have you applied for other subsidy schemes that are not listed in the form Melding overdracht of beëindiging agrarisch bedrijf (step 5)? For example, the SDE subsidy? You must also pass on your new details to RVO for this purpose.
Pass on your new KVK number and RVO relation number to your customers, suppliers, and transporters.
Did you authorise people to act on your behalf that used the old relation number at RVO? Re-authorise the appropriate people on behalf of the new company. If you saved your authorisations in step 4, you can use them now. Read more about authorising someone or being authorised (in Dutch) on RVO.nl.
Have your contact details changed due to the transfer of the business? If so, please update them via Mijn dossier at mijn.rvo.nl (in Dutch).
Are you unable to complete the process online?
If you are unable to complete the process online, you can also contact RVO. In that case, please use the paper form Melding overdracht of beëindiging agrarisch bedrijf (‘Notification of transfer or termination of an agricultural business’).