What No One Tells You About Setting Up a BV in the Netherlands
A behind-the-scenes look at setting up a business (B.V.) as an immigrant entrepreneur in the Netherlands
When I decided to make my U.S. business fully legal in the Netherlands, I thought it would be a few forms, a bank appointment, and some digital signatures. It’s been… much more than that.
This post isn’t a complaint… it’s a reality check for anyone coming here with an existing U.S. LLC and thinking, “I’ll just register it.” I’m also not giving financial or legal advice. You’ll need to find that elsewhere. Let me know if you want referrals.
If you’re moving to the Netherlands under the DAFT visa, your U.S. business is technically seen as a foreign entity. That means you’ll need to start a Dutch B.V. — their version of a limited liability company.
The process sounds straightforward on paper, but in reality it involves moving every system, payment processor, and income stream into an entirely new company structure. It’s a slow burn, not a one-and-done.
Your LLC doesn’t transfer — it becomes “foreign.”
My U.S. LLC couldn’t just “convert” into a Dutch entity. It’s seen as foreign, which is why you create a B.V. The setup itself isn’t difficult, but moving every piece of your business infrastructure—banking, taxes, client contracts—takes more time than anyone tells you.
The process starts with getting your B.V. established. I rushed through this part, and honestly, I’m glad I did because if I hadn’t, I’d probably still be stuck in the early setup phase. You need to have a signed employment contract before you get on the plane if you plan to use the 30% ruling.
Once your B.V. is in place, focus on getting your employment contract, BSN, and KVK number. I actually had all of these before I even arrived in the Netherlands—I just didn’t realize it at the time.
After that, you can start opening accounts. Stripe, PayPal, and Wise are the easiest since everything can be done online. The local Dutch bank account is a bit more complicated, you’ll need to go in person if, for example, you choose to open one with ING.
You must employ yourself.
To run your B.V., you have to be on payroll with an employment contract. My salary is set at €6,000/month. Because my client income is still in USD, I have to convert even more than that monthly to meet payroll and taxes. It’s a big nasty tasting pill to swallow which includes more stress to ensure the income is high enough to cover the conversion from USD to EUR and to cover payroll.
The 30% ruling takes time.
I’m using both a lawyer and an accountant, and neither would start my 30% ruling application until my first payroll ran. So if you’re planning to apply for it, expect to wait until after you officially “start” being employed by your B.V. I officially started September 1st and paid my first payroll in October. Payroll taxes are paid one month behind. So September payroll is due by October 31st.
You can’t file your own VAT (yet).
Until I’m verified third-party entity, I can’t self-file VAT returns as a B.V. — even if though I’m comfortable doing your own bookkeeping. It’s a layer of compliance I just have to wait out. For example, this quarter I shouldn’t owe more than a few hundred euros in VAT so it doesn’t make financial sense for me to pay 450 euros to my accountant each month to do this task. So I want to get verified as quickly as possible. This costs money to do of course and when I get it done it will last for a period of 3 years then I’ll need to renew.
Banking in two worlds.
Most of my tools, expenses, and income are still in USD. To avoid losing revenue to conversion fees, I opened a Wise USD business account for my B.V. and switched all my income stream payouts there first. I also use the Wise account as my USD expenses account. Banking in the Netherlands is not the same as the U.S. since they don’t deal in routing and account numbers or 16 digit debit card numbers. That’s where Wise comes in for me.
From there, I convert to EUR when needed for Dutch payroll and taxes. It’s not elegant, but it works and I only end up converting what I need to convert to Euros. Everything else in the Dutch company is done in USD.
Accounting in two currencies.
My accountant said we could keep accounting records in USD, but probably not for the first year. So for now, I’m bookkeeping in both currencies and I’m exploring Xero for this.
Verifications take longer than you think.
Setting up new Dutch Stripe, PayPal, and bank accounts takes time and so do the platform verifications. Once those are approved, you can move your income streams over. Just expect the process to take weeks, not days. My PayPal account got frozen because they needed documents to verify I was legitimate.
I’m a get it done and move on kind of person, and this process has tested every bit of that.
Nothing about it happens in a straight line. You do one thing… then wait for three others. The best advice I can give?
Have an accountant who can explain things in plain English (or Dutch) and keep you calm while you wait. Be prepared to explain yourself and your questions several times and if possible do not do any of this over email.
No offense to the Dutch but they are terrible at answering their emails in a timely manner.
If you’re planning to “move” your business to the Netherlands, here’s the realistic order of operations:
Open the B.V. & get the employment contract signed
Move here
Get your residence/DAFT permit
Open your business bank accounts
Set up Dutch Stripe, PayPal, and Wise
Verify all accounts before swapping your revenue
Hire an accountant early — seriously
Expect it to take time, and don’t panic if it’s not all seamless right away.
I’m at the end of this process, but already learning that “going fully legal” abroad isn’t just paperwork — it’s patience training in disguise.
I'm sure this post will be very helpful to many who wish to follow in your footsteps!
Just a curiosity question: In the Netherlands, do you also need to register as an individual entrepreneur separately to manage income from other sources, such as Substack, such as is the case in France?
Such a helpful guide! I can see the Dutch are a bit like the Spanish when it comes to emails.