Invoicing guide
Invoicing in Netherlands
VAT — how it works, what an invoice needs, and where the numbers come from.
Data as of 2026-07-19. Sources: www.rijksoverheid.nl (opens in new tab), www.logius.nl (opens in new tab), taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu (opens in new tab), business.gov.nl (opens in new tab), www.belastingdienst.nl (opens in new tab).
This is general guidance, not tax advice — verify with your tax authority.
The tax regime
Netherlands taxes most sales under a VAT system (regime type: vat). The document title Ochre prints is “Invoice.”
Tax registration number
The tax registration number for Netherlands is labelled BTW-identificatienummer (BTW-id) on an Ochre invoice.
Format: "NL", then 9 digits, then "B", then 2 digits.
Registration & thresholds
No general registration threshold — register on first taxable supply (effectively €0). The €20,000 figure is the Kleineondernemersregeling (KOR) small-business OPT-OUT: resident businesses under it may choose not to charge VAT. €10,000 EU-wide OSS distance-sales threshold applies separately. (20,000 EUR)
Rates
| Standard (21%) | 21% |
|---|---|
| Reduced (9%) | 9% |
| Zero-rated (0%) | 0% |
| Exempt | 0% |
| Out of scope | 0% |
Rates shown above are for Domestic supply; this pack also defines Intra-Community B2B (reverse charge) and Export (outside EU) for cross-border or special-case supplies.
This pack also defines an “Intra-Community B2B (reverse charge)” table — intra-EU B2B supplies can qualify for the reverse charge.
Price display
Ochre's default for Netherlands is tax-exclusive pricing on a line item.
For consumer-facing (B2C) prices, the displayed price must include tax.
Rounding
Tax is rounded half up, applied once per tax rate on the invoice, to a precision of 0.01.
Mandatory invoice fields
- Seller's tax registration number
- Customer's tax registration number (B2B)
- Sequential invoice number
- Issue date
- Date of supply
- Tax broken down by rate
- Reverse-charge statement (where it applies)
Fiscal year & dates
The fiscal year starts January 1. Dates print in DD-MM-YYYY order.
Currency
EUR (€), shown to 2 decimal places.
E-invoicing
Dutch businesses are not yet required to send e-invoices to each other. Suppliers to the central government (Rijksoverheid) must send e-invoices, and an invoice sent as a PDF by email does not count. On 11 September 2026 the Dutch cabinet announced that it wants e-invoicing mandatory for both domestic and cross-border business-to-business transactions from 1 July 2030, with digital reporting to the Tax Administration from 1 July 2031. Businesses in the small-business scheme (KOR, turnover up to EUR 20,000 a year) would stay exempt. This is a government plan, not yet law: the bill is expected in the House of Representatives before summer 2027. Across the EU, cross-border business-to-business invoicing moves to e-invoices with digital reporting from 1 July 2030 under the EU VAT in the Digital Age package. Ochre does not send or receive e-invoices for you.