Registered office, bank account and company changes
Company Liquidation in the Netherlands for BVs Run from Abroad
Your BV closed by the route its balance sheet allows, with every filing made on time by your own director, from abroad.
- Turbo filing: within 14 days, art. 2:19b BW
- No KVK charge to deregister
- No DigiD? Form 17A by post, at least 10 days
Closing a Dutch BV run from abroad: one test, two routes
We prepare the resolution, the file and the filings that close a Dutch BV owned and run from abroad, and your own director signs and files them. Address services, such as giving a Dutch company a registered address without renting an office, are a separate service and are never combined with closing the same company.
Dissolution is the shareholders' resolution; liquidation is the settlement that follows (art. 2:19 BW). The test is assets, not debts. No asset on the dissolution date: the BV ends at once, a turboliquidatie (fast-track liquidation, art. 2:19 lid 4 BW). Any asset, even a tax refund still due: dissolution and liquidation, and the BV lives on in liquidatie (art. 2:19 lid 5 BW).
- Is a pension or annuity obligation on the balance sheet?No closure yet (Belastingdienst)Go on to the next check
- Is the BV a holding above an operating company?Close the operating company first (KVK)Go on to the asset test
- Any asset on the dissolution date? Money in the bank or petty cash, money owed by clients or the Belastingdienst, equipment, shares in an operating companyDissolution and liquidation: the BV continues in liquidatie (art. 2:19 lid 5 BW)Turbo liquidation: the BV ends at once (art. 2:19 lid 4 BW)
- In liquidation, are the debts above the assets?Bankruptcy, unless all known creditors agree (art. 2:23a lid 4 BW)Wind-up, deposit, objection and payout
What's included
We prepare everything for either route; your own director signs, files and keeps the books, and we never act as liquidator, director or custodian.
The routing test and the blockers
We check the balance sheet on the intended date for any asset, a pension or annuity obligation, a holding above an operating company, and debts that exceed the assets.
The dissolution resolution
Drafted in writing for your shareholders to sign abroad, dated today or later, naming the liquidators where they are not the directors, and the custodian of the books (art. 2:24 BW).
The turbo file
The balance sheet, the statement of income and expenditure, and the explanation of why no assets remain and why any creditor went unpaid (art. 2:19b lid 1 BW).
The filing route for a director abroad
My KVK with DigiD or a European eID, or form 17A and the fast-track help form by post; then the written notice to your creditors.
The liquidation file
Form 17A within one week, the statement of accounts, a distribution plan where two or more people are entitled, the newspaper notice text, and form 17B at the end.
The tax close
The last corporate income tax return with the slotbalans (closing balance sheet), the final VAT return, and in route B the 15% dividend tax withheld on the payout: see netherlands withholding tax.
Your calendar
Every statutory date of the chosen route, from the 14-day turbo filing to the seven-year custody of the books, written down before the resolution is signed.
Where our work stops
No bankruptcy filing, no sale of your BV, and no closing work for a company that uses our address, such as an Amsterdam business address for a company run from abroad (Wtt 2018, limb b).
Turbo liquidation: filing with the KVK within 14 days
The 14-day duty is temporary: arts. 2:19b and 2:19c BW lapse on 15 November 2027 (Stb. 2025, 215). The after-filing step at the end of the next section applies here too.
Check for assets
Compare the balance sheet on the intended date with the KVK's asset list: bank money, receivables, a tax refund still due, equipment, shares.
Close the open items
File earlier annual accounts, settle the bank account, contracts and staff, and file open VAT and payroll returns: bank access ends with the deregistration.
Sign the resolution
Your shareholders sign it in writing, dated today or later, naming the custodian director, who must be a natural person.
Sign the turbo file
Your director signs the balance sheet, the statement of income and expenditure and the explanation; unpublished earlier accounts join them (annual accounts filing in the Netherlands).
File
My KVK with DigiD or a European eID (Dutch form, scans up to 25 MB each), or form 17A and the help form by post.
Tell the creditors
Your board writes to the creditors that the filed documents can be requested from the KVK (art. 2:19b lid 2 BW).
Dissolution and liquidation: deposit, objection and payout
Route B has no published total: the KVK puts it at a few months in total, and the statute fixes the periods within it.
Set by law or an official pagePractice indicationNo published time
- Lapse
- 14-day duty lapses 15 November 2027
- 1. Resolution
- Effective on the date it fixes
- 2. Filing
- Within 14 days (art. 2:19b lid 1 BW)
- 3. Entry in the register
- A few days online, at least 10 days by post (KVK)
- 4. Creditors' notice
- Without delay after the filing
- 1. Resolution
- Effective on the date it fixes
- 2. Form 17A
- Within one week (art. 20 lid 2 Hrw 2007)
- 3. Wind-up
- No published time
- 4. Deposit and notice
- Two months on public view (art. 2:23b lid 4 BW)
- 5. Objection period
- Two months from the deposit and the notice (art. 2:23b lid 5 BW)
- 6. Distribution
- After the objection period, with no objection
- 7. Form 17B
- No published time
- Custodian of the books
- Registered within eight days (art. 2:24 BW)
- Books and records
- Kept seven years (art. 2:24 BW)
Resolution
Your shareholders sign it, naming the liquidators if they are not the directors.
Report
The liquidator reports the dissolution and the liquidators on form 17A by post, and the company name now ends in liquidatie.
Wind up
The liquidators collect receivables, sell or distribute assets, pay creditors and request the final year's provisional tax assessment. Debts above assets: all known creditors agree, or bankruptcy (art. 2:23a lid 4 BW).
Deposit and notice
The statement of accounts and, with two or more entitled persons, the distribution plan lie at the KVK and the company's office, announced in a newspaper (art. 2:23b lid 4 BW).
Objections
Creditors and entitled persons may object to the court; no advance payout without the court's authorisation (art. 2:23b leden 5 and 6 BW).
Distribution
The BV withholds 15% dividend tax above the average paid-up capital unless exempt (Wet DB 1965, arts. 3, 5 and 7); unclaimed money is consigned.
The end
When no known assets remain (art. 2:23b lid 9 BW), the liquidator reports the end of the liquidation on form 17B by post.
After either route
The KVK deregisters the UBOs, informs the Belastingdienst and sends a letter as your proof; the custodian keeps the books seven years (art. 2:24 BW).
Not sure whether your BV still has an asset?
We check the balance sheet against the KVK's asset list before the resolution is dated, so the route is settled before anyone signs.
Documents you will need
What an owner abroad gathers for either route; the KVK mentions no apostille or sworn translation for these filings.
- The signed written dissolution resolution, with its date and the custodian's name
- Bookkeeping to the dissolution date, open invoices and any tax refund due
- Bank statements, downloaded before the account closes
- Every annual account of earlier years not yet published
- Route A: DigiD or a European eID for My KVK, or signatures on the paper forms
- Route A: a custodian director who is a natural person
- Route B: the names of the liquidators
- Route B: each shareholder's details and dividend tax position (corporate, treaty or EU/EEA)
- The list of creditors, for the notice or the wind-up
- A statement of any pension or annuity obligation; for a group, the closing order
Deadlines, state charges and taxes when a Dutch BV closes
What the law sets and what the state charges; our own fee is quoted on request and never appears here.
Deadlines and state charges for closing a Dutch BV, each with its article; checked on 4 October 2026.
| Item | Figure or rule | Statute and source |
|---|---|---|
| Turbo filing: balance sheet, income and expenditure, explanation, unpublished accounts | Within 14 days after the dissolution; the KVK counts from the resolution | Art. 2:19b lid 1 BW; KVK, 2026 |
| Lapse of the 14-day duty and of the disqualification article | 15 November 2027, after one postponement by the maximum two years | Arts. 2:19b and 2:19c BW; Stb. 2025, 215 |
| Turbo filing by post (form 17A and the help form) | At least 10 days; online within a few days | KVK, deregister a BV, 2026 |
| Reporting the dissolution and the liquidators (route B) | Within one week | Art. 20 lid 2 Hrw 2007 |
| Deposit of the statement of accounts and distribution plan | Two months on public view, announced in a newspaper | Art. 2:23b lid 4 BW |
| Objection period for creditors and entitled persons | Two months after the deposit and the notice | Art. 2:23b lid 5 BW |
| Unclaimed liquidation money | Consigned after six months from the last payment date | Art. 2:23b lid 8 BW |
| Books and records | Kept seven years; custodian registered within eight days | Art. 2:24 leden 1 and 3 BW |
| KVK charge to deregister | None; the tariff regulation holds no fee for a dissolution | KVK, ending and deregistration, 2026; Financiële regeling handelsregister 2019, in force from 1 July 2026 |
| Newspaper notice (route B) | Not a state charge: priced by the newspaper | Art. 2:23b lid 4 BW |
The final year's profit is taxed at the 2026 vennootschapsbelasting rates; the payout to the shareholders carries its own withholding rules.
Tax on closing a Dutch BV in 2026, each line with its statute; the shareholder's personal tax is outside this table.
| Item | Rate or rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate income tax on the final year's profit | 19% up to EUR 200,000; 25.8% above (2026) | Art. 22 Wet Vpb |
| Dividend tax on the liquidation distribution | 15% of the part above the average paid-up capital, withheld by the BV | Wet DB 1965, art. 3 lid 1 sub b, art. 5, art. 7 lid 2 |
| Exemption for a corporate shareholder | Possible: participation exemption, or an EU/EEA or treaty-state company with a qualifying interest, subject to the anti-abuse test | Art. 4 Wet DB 1965 |
| Conditional withholding tax | 25.8% (2026) on liquidation proceeds to an affiliated recipient in a low-tax jurisdiction | Art. 3.4a lid 2 sub b and art. 4.1 Wet bronbelasting 2021 |
| Liquidation loss of a parent | Capped at EUR 5,000,000 unless art. 13d lid 2 Wet Vpb is met | Art. 13d Wet Vpb |
Problems we solve
The questions that change a route or a liability, answered before your director signs anything.
- Unpaid debts but no assets
Turbo stays lawful: the filing explains why creditors went unpaid, and they are told in writing. In route B, debts above assets mean bankruptcy unless all known creditors agree; that filing is an insolvency lawyer's.
- A tax refund still due
A refund is an asset, so turbo waits until it is received and paid out, or the BV takes route B. A turbo filed with an asset left exposes the directors personally.
- Personal liability, stated plainly
A liquidator carries a director's liability (art. 2:23a BW): a late bankruptcy filing, payouts that leave debts unpaid (art. 2:216 lid 3 BW), a court reopening, or a disqualification after a turbo that broke the rules.
- The bank and the order of closure
Bank access ends with the deregistration, so payouts and the account closure come first: see the non-resident bank account guide. A holding closes after its operating company, and a pension obligation blocks closure.
- The BV left to die
The KVK can dissolve it on two of four grounds, eight weeks after notice, and act as liquidator itself (art. 2:19a BW); the tax returns continue until it is wound up.
Closing a BV with unpaid debts or a refund still due?
We prepare the route, the explanation and the creditors' notice before your director signs.
Why work with us
We test the balance sheet before the resolution is dated, receivables and any tax refund first, then the order of closure in a group. Your director receives the prepared file and a calendar that runs to the last tax letter.
Joost van Leeuwen, company formation and company law lead, Amsterdam: eleven years on Dutch company files, in Dutch, English and German.
Related services
- DutchRegist: Ready-Made Companies in the NetherlandsFor a founder who wants a Dutch company again later: buyer-side help with a notarial share transfer.
- A parent closing a subsidiaryThe parent's liquidation loss is capped at EUR 5,000,000 unless art. 13d lid 2 Wet Vpb is met: see .
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a BV with unpaid debts be closed by turbo liquidation?
Yes, if it has no assets on the dissolution date: the statute tests assets, not debts (art. 2:19 lid 4 BW). The board then explains in its filing why creditors were not paid and tells them in writing, and a director risks a disqualification or a claim (arts. 2:19b and 2:19c BW).
Can I close my Dutch BV from abroad without DigiD?
Yes. The online filing in My KVK needs DigiD or a European eID, and the online dissolution form is in Dutch only. Without them, your director sends form 17A and the fast-track help form by post; the KVK says a fast-track liquidation by post takes at least 10 days.
Do I become personally liable when the BV is liquidated?
A liquidator has the same powers, duties and liability as a director (art. 2:23a lid 1 BW). The exposures are waiting too long to file for bankruptcy, payouts that leave debts unpaid (art. 2:216 lid 3 BW), a reopening at a creditor's request (art. 2:23c BW) and, after a turbo that broke the rules, a disqualification.
What does the state charge to deregister a BV?
Nothing: the KVK states that deregistering is free of charge, and its tariff regulation holds no fee for a dissolution. In an ordinary liquidation the liquidator announces the deposit in a newspaper (art. 2:23b lid 4 BW), which the newspaper prices. Our own fee is on request.
Can you also close the company if it uses your registered address?
No. Supplying an address to a company and also doing its tax returns, accounts or legal work is a trust service that needs a DNB licence (art. 1(1) Wtt 2018, limb b). For a company that uses our address, its own adviser prepares the liquidation and the final returns.
How long does a company liquidation in the Netherlands take?
A turbo liquidation is filed within 14 days of the dissolution and entered within a few days online, or at least 10 days by post. An ordinary liquidation runs through two months on deposit and a two-month objection period; the KVK puts it at a few months in total. The tax close follows.
How can I close my KVK?
With no assets left, your director files the turbo liquidation in My KVK, or on form 17A with the fast-track help form by post. With assets, the dissolution and the liquidators are reported on form 17A within one week, and the end of the liquidation on form 17B. Deregistering is free.
What is the difference between liquidate and dissolve?
Dissolution is the general meeting's resolution that ends the company's life (art. 2:19 lid 1 sub a BW). Liquidation is the settlement that follows: assets collected, creditors paid, the rest distributed. With no assets on the dissolution date there is nothing to settle, and the company ends at once.
What happens to the director of a dissolved company?
Unless the articles or the resolution name someone else, the directors become the liquidators, with a director's liability (arts. 2:23 and 2:23a BW). The books are kept for seven years after the company ends by the custodian, who registers name and address within eight days (art. 2:24 BW).
What happens when a company goes into dissolution?
If it has assets, it survives as far as the liquidation needs, carries in liquidatie in its name, and ends when no known assets remain (art. 2:19 lid 5 and 6 BW). If it has none on the dissolution date, it ends at once (art. 2:19 lid 4 BW).
Who pays for liquidation?
The KVK charges nothing to deregister, and no tariff for a dissolution exists in its fee regulation. An ordinary liquidation pays a newspaper for the notice of the deposit (art. 2:23b lid 4 BW); a notary is paid only where an asset needs a deed to transfer. Our fee is on request.
Can you just shut down a company?
Abandoning a BV is not an exit. The KVK can dissolve it where two of four grounds apply, such as a year in default on the annual accounts, eight weeks after notice (art. 2:19a BW), and the Belastingdienst expects returns until the BV is finally wound up.
What tax is due when a Dutch BV is liquidated?
A last corporate income tax return with the closing balance sheet, and the final VAT return when the Belastingdienst asks. On a liquidation distribution the BV withholds 15% dividend tax on the part above the average paid-up capital, unless an exemption applies (art. 3 lid 1 sub b and art. 5 Wet DB 1965).
Do I have to deregister the UBOs or tell the tax office myself?
No. The KVK deregisters the UBOs and passes the deregistration on to the Belastingdienst, and its letter confirming the deregistration is your proof. VAT returns still have to be filed while they are listed in the business portal, until the Belastingdienst writes about the final one.
Is the 14-day turbo filing rule permanent?
No. Articles 2:19b and 2:19c BW lapse on 15 November 2027: the lapse was postponed once, by the maximum two years (Stb. 2025, 215). Until then the board files the balance sheet, the statement of income and expenditure and the explanation within 14 days of the dissolution.
Request a liquidation plan
Tell us the company form, whether anything is left on the balance sheet, and whether your director has DigiD; we reply with the route and its calendar. Pricing on request.