When you have to register with KVK
You have to register with KVK (the Dutch Chamber of Commerce) once three things are true. You independently supply goods or services to others than family and friends, you ask more for it than a reimbursement of costs, and you do it regularly with the intention of earning from it. There is no turnover threshold. It is about what you do, not about what it brings in. A hobby that earns little or nothing is not a business; a project you sell to customers is, even when it is small.
This article walks through the KVK criteria, the grey zone between hobby and business, why the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) then gives its own judgement, how registering works and what happens in the weeks after. The tax explanation on this page follows Dutch law and is written for Dutch sole proprietorships (eenmanszaak).
This is general information, not tax or legal advice. basestep calculates and explains; you file yourself. If you are unsure about your situation, consult an adviser.
- you supply independently goods or services, to others than family and friends
- you ask something for it more than a reimbursement of costs
- you do it regularly and with the intention of earning from it
all three: register with KVK
When do you have to register?
When you have a business, and KVK describes that with three characteristics. You independently supply goods or services to others: not as an employee, and not only to your family or friends. You ask a fee for it that is more than your costs. And you do it regularly, with the intention of earning from it. Whoever meets all three must register in the Handelsregister (the Dutch business register), before the activities start or at the latest one week after.
Mind the words. Independently: you decide what you do and for whom. To others: a website anyone can use, a service you offer, a product you sell. Regularly: not a single job for an acquaintance, but something you keep doing. With the intention of earning: you do not have to make a profit yet, but you do have to want to.
KVK itself adds that the assessment depends on the situation. If you are in doubt, you can ask them; that costs nothing and the answer usually comes quickly.
- Supplying independently, to others than family and friends.
- A fee that is more than a reimbursement of costs.
- Regularly, with the intention of earning from it.
When is it still a hobby?
When you earn little or nothing from it and that is not the intention either. Someone who builds something for fun and puts it online for free has no business. Someone who now and then helps a friend for a reimbursement of their costs has none either. The turn comes when you offer it to strangers, put a price on it that is more than your costs, and keep doing so.
For a maker, that moment often comes sooner than they think. A project you put on your own domain with a pricing page and a button to pay is offering to others, even if nobody has paid yet. A demo you show to a few companies, asking whether they want to pay for it, is acquisition. The signals KVK mentions are recognisable: a website, actively looking for customers, asking a price, expecting it to bring something in.
So the grey zone is small. Whoever looks honestly at their own project usually knows which side they are on. And whoever really does not know registers sooner rather than later, because being registered too early costs little and too late can lead to a fine.
- Hobby: earning little or nothing, and not wanting to either.
- The turn: offering to strangers, with a price, and keeping on.
- A pricing page and a pay button are offering, even without a first customer.
Is there a turnover threshold?
No. That is the most common misconception. There is no amount below which you do not have to register and above which you do. KVK looks at what you do, how independently you do it and whether you regularly offer it to others; the amount plays no part in that. Someone with a turnover of a few hundred euros a year can have a business, and someone who sells something big once does not.
The confusion probably comes from other thresholds that do exist. The small businesses scheme for VAT (btw), the kleineondernemersregeling (KOR, the Dutch small businesses VAT scheme), has a turnover threshold of €20,000 a year. But that is about whether you charge VAT, not about whether you have a business. And for income tax the Belastingdienst looks at size and profit, among other things, but that is a different judgement, more on which below.
So the question is not how much you earn, but whether you run a business. Whoever does registers, regardless of the amount.
- No turnover threshold for registration.
- The €20,000 threshold belongs to the kleineondernemersregeling and is about VAT.
- What you do counts, not what it brings in.
Why does the Belastingdienst judge separately?
Because registering with KVK and being an entrepreneur for tax purposes are two different things, with two different assessors. KVK judges whether you belong in the Handelsregister. Separately, the Belastingdienst judges whether you are an entrepreneur for VAT and whether you are an entrepreneur for income tax. Those can be three different answers.
For VAT the bar is low: whoever independently and regularly supplies something for a fee is quickly an entrepreneur for VAT, even with little turnover. For income tax the Belastingdienst looks more broadly: how many customers you have, how much time you put in, whether you run a risk, whether you invest, whether the business exists to the outside world. Whoever does not meet that but does have income declares it as income from other work (resultaat uit overig werk), with fewer deductions than an entrepreneur.
After your registration, KVK passes your details to the Belastingdienst, which then tells you how it sees you. That judgement determines whether you get a VAT identification number (btw-identificatienummer) and whether you can think about the entrepreneur schemes for income tax. The term VAT or income tax on this site puts the two kinds of entrepreneur side by side.
- KVK: do you belong in the Handelsregister. Belastingdienst: are you an entrepreneur for VAT, and for income tax.
- For VAT the bar is low; for income tax the Belastingdienst looks more broadly.
- Not an entrepreneur for income tax but still income: income from other work.
How do you register, and what does it cost?
You fill in the registration form on the KVK website. There you choose a legal form (for a maker who starts alone that is almost always the sole proprietorship), a trade name and a description of what you do. Then you make an appointment at a KVK office to have your identity checked. There you complete the registration and pay the one-off registration fee; the current amount is on kvk.nl. After that you pay nothing to stay registered.
Bring a valid proof of identity and, if you work from home, proof of your address. Think about your trade name beforehand: it must not be misleading and must not resemble an existing name in the same sector too closely. A domain name you already have is not a trade name; you may register it as your trade name, though.
The registration fee is a business cost and belongs as the first entry in your bookkeeping. That is also the start of the retention obligation that comes with the business.
- Form on kvk.nl, legal form, trade name, description, appointment.
- One-off registration fee (amount on kvk.nl), then nothing to stay registered.
- Bring proof of identity, and the first entry for your bookkeeping.
What happens after registration?
You get a KVK number, which from now on belongs on your invoices. KVK passes your details to the Belastingdienst, which within a few weeks tells you how it sees you. If you are an entrepreneur for VAT, you get a VAT identification number (which goes on your invoices) and a VAT tax number, the omzetbelastingnummer (for contact with the Belastingdienst). You also get a letter about when you file your first VAT return, usually per quarter.
From that moment you have bookkeeping to keep, even if nothing has been sold yet: every expense for the business, every invoice you send, and the retention period of seven years starts running. If you want to use the kleineondernemersregeling, you sign up for it separately.
Also consider a separate bank account. It is not mandatory for a sole proprietorship, but it saves hours every quarter, because you no longer have to search for which debit was business.
- KVK number on your invoices; the Belastingdienst tells you how it sees you.
- VAT identification number and omzetbelastingnummer if you are an entrepreneur for VAT.
- Bookkeeping from day one, and a separate account saves hours.
What does this mean for a maker with an AI project?
It means that the moment of registering usually coincides with the cliff: the point where your project changes from something for yourself into something for others. As soon as you ask a price and offer it to strangers, you are doing business, and then registration comes with it, just like the domain, the database and the privacy statement. It is one of the obligations in the last step of the journey to live.
Do not wait for the first payment. Registration costs little, and with a KVK number you can open a business account, connect a payment provider and send invoices that meet the requirements. Without a KVK number you run into a question at each of those three.
And if your project stays a hobby, that is fine too. Then you do not register, you do not ask for money, and the only list you have to go through is the technical one. The choice is clear as long as you make it consciously.
- Registering coincides with the cliff: the first stranger who pays.
- Do not wait for the first payment; you need the number earlier.
- If it stays a hobby: do not register, do not ask a price.
Sources
Checked on 5 September 2026. The criteria come from KVK, the distinction between the kinds of entrepreneur from the Belastingdienst. The registration fee is deliberately not given here as an amount; it changes every year and is on kvk.nl.
Further reading
Three places that connect to this.
From first prompt to tax return.
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