How does the XAF-auditfile work?
The auditfile exists to make handover possible without everyone using the same package. In a tax audit (boekenonderzoek) that saves weeks; when switching to another supplier or adviser it saves retyping years by hand.
The jump from 3.2 to 4.0 is mainly a clean-up. Going from about 250 fields to about 90 means that many optional fields disappear that stayed empty in practice anyway, and that the remaining fields are defined more tightly. The reference chart of accounts (referentiegrootboekschema) also gets a clearer place.
In practice: check with every package whether the export exists and whether you can create it yourself, without a request to the supplier. An auditfile that is only available on request is not an export option but a service that can disappear.
Where is the XAF-auditfile in the law?
These legal sources come from the specialist dossiers that were reviewed on 24 August 2026. Mind the difference that becomes large in a dispute: a statutory article next to a value is where that value is found, not a justification for how it applies to your situation.
- Article 52 of the Dutch General State Taxes Act (AWR)the records must be verifiable within a reasonable period; the auditfile is the usual means for that
The links go to the statutory text on wetten.overheid.nl, in the version that applied on 24 September 2026.
What does basestep do with the XAF-auditfile?
The auditfile export is planned and not in yet. What is there: an export of your bookkeeping that you create yourself and take with you. The version choice has been made and is fixed at XAF 4.0, so no file will come out later in a standard from 2014.
All calculations, explanations and signals in basestep are calculation support and instruction, not tax or legal advice. Amounts are estimates based on your own input; the Dutch tax authority (Belastingdienst) sets the assessment.
Where does it go wrong with the XAF-auditfile?
The two mistakes you run into most often in practice with this term, and what they cost you.
An export you cannot create yourself
An auditfile on request depends on your supplier. Test once whether you can download it yourself, and do so before you need it.
Never checking whether it can be read in
A file that is created but never read in is not proven. Have your adviser go through it once.
Further reading
Three places this term is tied to, inside this glossary and beyond.