End of year tips 2025 for BV and DGA
- Jenifer Benton
- Dec 1, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
As the year draws to a close, it's time to look ahead. By taking action promptly, you can potentially save on taxes and take advantage of tax benefits that only apply before the end of the year.
We've therefore compiled a list of practical year-end tips that may be relevant to both your personal and business situations.
Important: All information in this article is based on the information available on the day of publication. Unfortunately, we cannot yet predict the future, and due to the flexible nature of the legislation, certain figures and rules may change in the future.
Overview:
Tips for the BV
1. Apply the small-scale investment deduction
When you invest, you are eligible for the investment deduction for small-scale investments. There is a minimum investment amount of €2,901, with each investment costing at least €450 excluding VAT.
Please note The percentage of deduction is highest if the total of liabilities is between €2,900 and €70,602, i.e. 28%.
2. De-investment addition
If you have sold or donated business assets for which you applied the investment deduction in previous years, you may have to repay part of that deduction in the form of a de-investment addition. Check in your records whether the period of 5 years has expired after the beginning of the calendar year in which the investment was made.
3. Research and development
You can get a deduction for research and development work under certain conditions. Check whether you are eligible. The amount of the deduction is € 15,738.
4. Incorporation of a BV
Check whether it is fiscally attractive to form a BV. The first bracket of corporation tax has a rate of 19% and applies to a profit of up to € 200,000.
Please note To set up a BV, you have to go to the notary. The notary draws up the notarial deed containing the articles of association. The notary will then register your BV with the Chamber of Commerce.
5. Depreciation of business assets
If you have bought a business asset, you may not deduct the costs from your profit in one go. A business asset lasts a number of years. You must therefore depreciate the asset. For most business assets, you may depreciate a maximum of 20% of the purchase costs per year. So you write off the costs in at least 5 years. Check whether you can still depreciate this year.
Please note Different rules apply to the depreciation of goodwill and business premises.
6. Offset losses
You can first offset your loss from your company against the profit of the previous year. Only then do you offset the loss against the profits of future years.
7. Innovation box
You can drop the profits you make from innovative activities for which an R&D declaration has been issued in the innovation box. The profits in this box are taxed at a corporate income tax rate of 9% instead of 25.8%.
8. Excessive borrowing from your BV
Map out the loans of your BV. If you have borrowed more than € 500,000 from your own BV, the amount above that is considered taxed income in box 2 of the income tax (excessive borrowing).
Please note To determine the amount of the loan, all debts to your BV count, except for the home acquisition debts.
9. Deductible donations
Your BV can deduct donations to public benefit institutions (ANBIs) and support foundations from the profit. Per year, the deduction amounts to a maximum of 50% of the profit, with a maximum of € 100,000. You must be able to prove the donations in writing.
Please note In case your BV makes a donation to an ANBI that is designated as a cultural institution, then you may increase the deduction of the profit by 50%. However, the maximum increase is € 2,500.
10. Provisional assessment 2026
If your profit deviates from expectations, request a new provisional corporate tax assessment in a timely manner. This will prevent you from paying tax interest, and conversely, it will prevent the amount from being refunded interest-free upon receipt from the tax authorities.
Please note that the tax interest rate for corporate income tax is 9%.
Tips for the DGA
11. Customary salary
The customary salary that you earn for the work for your BV must be at least the highest amount of the following amounts:
the salary from the most comparable employment;
the salary of the highest-earning employee of the company or of the highest-earning employee of an affiliated company of the employer;
at least €56,000, amounting to €4,666.67 per month.
For 2026, a minimum DGA salary of € 58,000 gross per year applies. A DGA must take into account a gross monthly salary of €4,833.33, which amounts to approximately €2,900 – €3,350 net per month, depending on the payroll tax credit.
12. Bonus
The Dutch tax authorities consider up to €2,400 per year to be a customary tax-free bonus that a DGA can grant under the WKR without further justification. If you grant more than that amount as a bonus under the WKR (unused 2% of your taxable salary up to and including € 400,000, 1.18% on the excess), the tax authorities can dispute this, unless you can demonstrate why a higher amount is customary in your situation.
13. Dividend
Check whether you can pay dividends and take into account the balance sheet test and distribution test. You are legally obliged to assess whether your BV is allowed to distribute and whether the BV can still pay its due and payable debts after the distribution.
Please note The dividend payment was taxed in box 2 at a rate of 24.5% up to an amount of € 67,804. The amount above that is taxed at 31%.
VAT-tips
14. Correct VAT rate
Different rates apply to VAT. Make sure that you apply the correct rate. The general rate is 21%. For some goods and services, the reduced rate of 9%, or 0%, applies. With 0% VAT, you do not charge VAT, but you can deduct VAT that you pay on your expenses as input tax.
Please note A number of goods and services are exempt from VAT. VAT that you pay for these goods or services cannot be deducted as input tax.
15. VAT correction for private use of company cars
If you make a company car available to your employees, you must pay VAT on the private use. If you do not keep records showing the private use of the car, a fixed percentage of 2.7% of the list price of the car, including VAT and bpm, applies.
Please note You must pay the VAT for the private use of the car via the last VAT return of the financial year.
Tips for the employer
16. Make use of the free space
You can spend part of your total taxable wage bill on tax-free allowances, benefits in kind and provisions for your employees. This is the discretionary margin and amounts to 2% of your taxable salary up to and including € 400,000. The discretionary margin is 1.18% on the excess of your taxable salary.
Please note You pay wage tax in the form of a final levy of 80% on the amount that exceeds the discretionary margin.
Please note The Dutch tax authorities consider up to €2,400 per year to be a customary tax-free bonus that a DGA can grant under the WKR without further subs justification. If you grant more than that amount as a bonus under the WKR, the tax authorities can dispute this, unless you can demonstrate why a higher amount is customary in your situation.
17. False self-employment
Review the contracts you have agreed with self-employed persons to ensure that the employment relationship is correctly classified, and record this assessment. The Tax and Customs Administration will be strictly enforcing the rules on false self-employment
Please note Even if you formally have a contract for services, in practice the terms and conditions of the contract may still closely resemble those of an employee. This is decisive for the tax authorities. As a result, you run the risk of fines and additional tax assessments.
18. Addition to taxable income for bicycle
If you make a bicycle available to your employee and this employee also uses the bicycle for private purposes, an addition applies. The addition amounts to 7% of the original new value of the bicycle and must be added to the salary.
19. Electric car workers
If you make a car available to your employee and this car is also used for private purposes, an addition applies. The addition percentage for regular lease cars is 22% and for zero-emission cars 17% up to € 30,000. If you make an electric lease car available this year, your employee will still benefit from the reduced addition rate of 17% up to a list price of € 30,000. This can provide a significant advantage over the life of a 5-year contract.
20. Deregistering as an employer
If you do not employ any employees, deregister as an employer from the Tax and Customs Administration. The obligation to file a wage tax return only ends when you deregister as an employer. You can deregister as an employer using the form 'Notification Payroll Taxes Deregistration employer'.
Please note After deregistration, you will receive a letter from the Tax and Customs Administration stating when you no longer have to file a payroll tax return. As long as you have not received that letter, you must continue to file payroll tax returns.
Tips for all taxpayers
21. Box 3 yield
You pay tax on the return on your assets in box 3. The Tax and Customs Administration assumes a fictitious return. But if the actual return is lower than the fictitious return, the Tax and Customs Administration must assume the actual return. When calculating the fictitious return, the Tax and Customs Administration has one reference moment. The Tax and Customs Administration looks at your assets and debts on 1 January. What happens after 1 January does not count towards the fictitious return.
With the actual return, the Tax and Customs Administration does look at changes in your assets and debts during the tax year.
22. Tax-free donation
You can still make a tax-free gift of € 6,713 to your child this year. You can also choose not to make use of this annual exemption but give your child a one-off tax-free gift. If your child decides for himself what the purpose of your donation is, you may make a one-off tax-free donation of up to €32,195. If the donation is for an expensive study, you may donate a maximum of € 67,064 tax-free. Just make sure you make the donation if your child is between 18 and 40 years old.
23. Healthcare costs
Check whether you have incurred healthcare costs this year. You can deduct these costs under certain conditions. There is a threshold, which depends on the level of your income. The higher your income, the higher the threshold. Only healthcare costs that exceed the threshold are deductible. It is therefore fiscally attractive to bundle healthcare costs within a year if possible.
24. Postpone buying a second home
Are you planning to purchase a home that you will not use as your main residence? Then postpone this purchase until after 2025. The transfer tax for homes that you will not use as your main residence will be reduced from 10.4 to 8%.
As you can read in this article, there are a lot of year-end tips for DGAs and BVs this year. Fortunately, you are not alone; we are here to assist you with all your questions. Together, we can look at your personal situation to optimize your tax position.
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