Legal form for your business

When you start a business, you must choose a legal structure for your company. Among other things, the legal structure determines your tax obligations. It also determines who is liable for the company’s debts.

Choosing a legal structure

You specify the legal form of your business when you register with the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KVK. You can choose from:

• legal forms with legal personality
• legal forms without legal personality

With a legal structure without legal personality, you are personally liable for your company’s debts. You must repay company debts from your private assets. This is usually not the case with a legal structure with legal personality. If you choose a legal structure with legal personality, then you must comply with the rules on governance and supervision for your business.

European legal structure

Is your company active in several EU countries? You can also opt for a European legal structure, the European cooperative society (Societas Cooperativa Europaea, SCE). You can set up this legal structure in all EU countries. As an SCE, you can relocate your company’s head office to another EU country without having to change your legal structure.

Reliability checks

Do you opt for a legal form with legal personality, such as a private limited company or a public limited company? To prevent abuse by companies, such as fraud, money laundering, or drug trafficking, screening authority Justis will always check the reliability of your company, its directors, and other relevant individuals (in Dutch).

Reporting changes to legal structure

Will you be changing your company’s legal form? These changes will affect your taxes and administration. You must report changes in your business’s structure to the Netherlands Tax Administration and KVK. You may also need to reapply for certain licences to your municipality. For example, alcohol licences and operating licences.

Find out how to change your legal form and what you need to take into account with the step-by-step plan: Changing your business structure.