How much do you set aside for tax

Why do you need to set something aside?

Because a sole proprietorship has no employer that withholds the tax before the money is in your account. With wages you see the net amount and the tax is already gone. With turnover you see the gross amount, including the VAT you collect for the Belastingdienst and including the profit on which you pay tax later. Everything is in one account and looks as if it is yours. It is not.

The bills come at fixed moments: the VAT every quarter, in the month after it ends, and the income tax after the return, so usually in the summer of the following year, in one go for the whole year. If you have set nothing aside by then, you pay the tax on last year out of this year’s turnover, and from that moment you are behind. That is the trap many starting entrepreneurs fall into in their second year.

So setting aside is not a matter of thrift but a correction: you turn your gross account back into a net account, so that what you see is also what you can spend.

• No employer who withholds; everything comes in gross.
• The VAT every quarter, the income tax in one go for the whole year.
• If you set nothing aside, you pay last year out of this year.

Which three streams does your turnover split into?

The VAT, the tax on your profit, and the rest. The VAT is the simplest: the amount is on your invoice, it is collected on behalf of the Belastingdienst, and it goes back every quarter, minus the VAT you paid yourself on business costs. That is not income and it should never feel like income either.

The tax on your profit is more complicated, because you only know the profit at the end of the year. The profit is turnover without VAT, minus your business costs, minus the ondernemersaftrek (the deductions for entrepreneurs) and the mkb-winstvrijstelling (a partial exemption of small-business profit) if you are entitled to them. On what remains you pay income tax in box 1 (income from work and home), added to any wages, plus the income-related contribution under the Zorgverzekeringswet. You reserve that stream per incoming invoice, as an estimate that you adjust during the year.

The rest is yours. In a sole proprietorship that is not called a salary but a private withdrawal (privéopname): you move it from the business account to your own account. How much that can be without getting into trouble, you only know when the first two streams are set apart.

• VAT: collected on behalf of the Belastingdienst, back every quarter, minus your voorbelasting (input VAT, the VAT on your own business costs).
• Tax on the profit: income tax plus the Zvw contribution, an estimate per invoice.
• The rest: private withdrawal, and only safe when the first two are set apart.

The first stream: the VAT that was never yours

If you charge VAT on your invoices, that VAT is already earmarked at the moment of payment. Set it aside as soon as the invoice is paid, not at the end of the quarter, because by then it has usually already been spent. A separate savings account next to your business account is enough; every paid invoice leads to a transfer of the VAT amount.

At the end of the quarter you do not pay the whole amount set aside, but the difference with the VAT you paid yourself on business costs. That difference is your return; the article on the first VAT return walks through the boxes. What remains in the VAT account after payment is the input VAT you got back, and that may go to your ordinary account.

If you take part in the kleineondernemersregeling (the KOR, the Dutch small businesses VAT scheme), this stream does not exist: you charge no VAT and pay nothing over. That is one of the reasons that scheme is attractive for small entrepreneurs with private customers. The article about it weighs the pros and cons.

• Set it aside per paid invoice, not per quarter.
• What you pay is the difference with your input VAT; the rest may go back.
• With the kleineondernemersregeling this stream does not exist.

The second stream: income tax and the Zvw contribution

On your profit you pay income tax in box 1 and the income-related contribution under the Zorgverzekeringswet. How much depends on three things you do not yet know exactly at the start of the year. How high your profit will be. Whether you are an entrepreneur for income tax; then in 2026 a mkb-winstvrijstelling of 12.7% of the profit after the ondernemersaftrek applies, with no urencriterium (the 1,225-hour test) required. And what other income you have, because a job alongside puts your profit in a higher bracket.

The rates and brackets for 2026 are on the website of the Belastingdienst and are deliberately not given here as figures: they change every year, and a figure in an article is wrong a year later. What does stay: the tax on your profit is a share of your profit, not of your turnover. Costs you make for the business lower the profit and so the tax, and that is why keeping a receipt is money.

Per incoming invoice, reserve a share of the amount without VAT, as an estimate. In the first year that estimate is rough; after the first return you know how you came out and you adjust. Better a rough estimate that is set aside than a precise one you never made.

• Income tax in box 1 plus the Zvw contribution, on the profit and not the turnover.
• The mkb-winstvrijstelling of 12.7% (2026) if you are an entrepreneur; a job alongside raises the bracket.
• Set aside a share per invoice as an estimate; adjust after the first return.

Why does a fixed percentage not work?

Because the percentage belongs to someone else. The well-known advice to set aside a fixed share of every invoice assumes an average entrepreneur with average costs, without a job alongside and entitled to all deductions. If you have a job, it is too low, because the profit falls into a higher bracket. If you have high costs, it is too high, because the profit is much lower than the turnover. If you get the zelfstandigenaftrek (the self-employed deduction), it is different again from when you do not.

A percentage that is too low is the dangerous side: you think you are done and the assessment is higher. A percentage that is too high is the expensive side: you tie up money you could have used. The only way to land in between is to work out your own situation: expected turnover, expected costs, deduction or not, wages alongside or not. That is half an hour of work with the calculation tool of the Belastingdienst, and it is the half hour that prevents the surprise in summer.

That is why this article names no percentage. What is right for everyone is the order: first the VAT aside, then an estimate for income tax, and only then private withdrawal.

• A fixed percentage is that of an average you are not.
• Too low is dangerous, too high is expensive; working it out takes half an hour.
• The order is right for everyone: VAT, estimate, only then private.

What does a provisional assessment do?

It spreads the income tax over the year. You request it yourself in Mijn Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority portal), in four steps, with an estimate of your profit and your other income for the current year. The Belastingdienst calculates what you owe on that, and you pay it in monthly instalments instead of in one go after the return. You may adjust the estimate during the year if your turnover goes differently.

The advantage is twofold. You pay the tax in the year in which you earn it, so you do not fall behind. And you avoid belastingrente (tax interest): the Belastingdienst charges interest if the final assessment turns out higher than what you already paid and that assessment is imposed after a certain date. The percentage and the dates are on the website of the Belastingdienst. If you file on time or request a provisional assessment on time, it does not affect you.

A provisional assessment does not fully replace reserving: the VAT remains a stream of its own, and an estimate that was too low still leads to an additional payment. But it takes the biggest uncertainty out of the year. If you find setting aside hard, it is the most reliable form of it: the money leaves before you can spend it.

• Request it yourself in Mijn Belastingdienst, with an estimate; pay monthly.
• Prevents falling behind and tax interest.
• The VAT remains a stream of its own; you may adjust the estimate.

How do you keep track without calculating every week?

With two accounts and one fixed action. The business account receives everything; a savings account next to it receives the VAT and the income tax estimate with every paid invoice. What stays in the business account after costs is yours. That is not bookkeeping, it is a habit of two minutes per invoice.

Look at it every quarter, at the moment you do the VAT return. Does the VAT in the savings account match the return? Is your turnover running ahead of the estimate you made at the start of the year? Then you adjust the provisional assessment or increase the share you set aside. Fifteen minutes four times a year is enough never to be surprised again.

A bookkeeping platform can keep track of this for you: the administration in basestep calculates the reservation from your invoices and your costs, and explains for each amount where it comes from and which rule it rests on. It files nothing for you and decides nothing; it makes sure you know what you have. That is exactly what setting aside is.

• Two accounts; with every paid invoice, transfer the VAT and the estimate.
• Fifteen minutes every quarter: does the VAT match, is turnover running ahead.
• A platform that calculates and explains takes away the calculating, not the choice.

Sources

Checked on 5 September 2026. The rates and brackets for 2026 and the percentage of tax interest are deliberately not in this article; they are on the website of the Belastingdienst and change every year.

• Belastingdienst, requesting a provisional assessment for 2026 in 4 steps
• Belastingdienst, mkb-winstvrijstelling 2026
• Belastingdienst, what taking part in the KOR means

Further reading

Three places that connect to this.