Fiscal representation in the Netherlands

Two kinds of licence

There are fiscal representatives with a general licence and with a limited licence. That decides what they do on your behalf.

A general fiscal representative handles the VAT on all your supplies and services on which you owe VAT. They also handle the VAT on goods you bring in from other EU countries, and on your imports. You can only have one, and you stay registered in the Netherlands yourself as well.

A limited licence only covers part of it, usually imports followed directly by a supply. Logistics companies often use this form for their customers.

When it is compulsory

Are you based outside the EU and do you sell at a distance to consumers in the Netherlands? Then in two cases you must appoint a general fiscal representative:

• Your head office or establishment is in a country with which no treaty on mutual assistance has been concluded
• You do not use the Union scheme to report your distance sales

In all other cases it is a choice. For businesses inside the EU it almost always is a choice.

Reverse-charging import VAT: that is the real benefit

When you import goods, you pay the VAT at customs in principle, at the moment of import. So you pay first and get it back later through your return. With every consignment money gets tied up.

With a licence to reverse-charge the VAT (article 23 licence) that VAT moves to your regular return. There you deduct it again in the same return. On balance you pay nothing and no money is tied up.

For a foreign business the route to such a licence goes through the fiscal representative. For many importers that is the real reason to appoint one: it keeps money in their business.

What often goes wrong

The mistakes we see are usually not complicated, but they do cost a lot of money:

• Importing in your own name without a licence to reverse-charge, so VAT was paid up front for years without need
• A limited licence used for goods it does not cover
• A return in the representative's name that does not match the business's own registration
• An EC Sales List that falls behind, which puts the zero rate on the onward supply in question

What we do

We look at whether a representative is compulsory in your situation or only useful, which licence fits and whether you can get the licence to reverse-charge. Then we arrange the application and the returns.

A Dutch VAT registration costs EUR 175 once. For other work we agree a price up front.