2026 check

Sole trader or BV

Enter the annual profit you expect. If you also have a job, enter your gross wage. That sits on top of the profit. You see what a sole tradership leaves you privately, and what a BV yields in salary, dividend and money that stays in the company.

This is an indication using the 2026 rates for someone who has not yet reached AOW age. Not advice, not a tax return, and not a judgment on liability. DT Admin is not a statutory auditor.

Expected annual profit€120,000

Profit before tax and before the administration fees below, after your other costs. Up to €1,000,000.

Gross wage from a job€0

Your gross annual wage from another employer, including holiday pay. Not the salary you pay yourself from the BV: that sits below. Leave this at 0 if you have no job. Add two jobs together. Hours in that job do not count towards the hours test. A partner's wage does not count.

BV structure

The tax in this check is the same for both structures. A holding is a second set of books. We compare with that by default, because those fees are higher.

Holding and operating BV€4,788 a yearOne BV€3,588 a year

Director’s salary€58,000

The salary you pay yourself as director of the BV. The Dutch tax authority calls this the DGA salary. The default is the floor of €58,000. Higher is allowed. Lower only when a comparable wage is demonstrably lower. If you work fewer hours in the BV beside a job, a lower amount can fit. Change it yourself.

Dividend this year

This does not change corporate tax. It splits what you receive privately this year and what stays in the BV. Paying it out can lower this year’s general tax credit.

Your situationI meet the hours testAt least 1,225 hours in the business. Required for the self-employed deduction and for the labour credit on the profit. The SME profit exemption applies without it. Hours in a job do not count.Fiscal partner for box 2The first bracket then counts twice, with a 50/50 split and no other box 2 income for the partner. We do not transfer tax credits, and we do not split the sole-trader profit.

Administration per year

The default is €1,188 for a sole tradership, €3,588 for one BV and €4,788 for a holding plus an operating BV. That is 12 times the indicative basis fee from DT Admin, excluding VAT. Payslips and software are left out.

Sole tradership

BV structure

The difference

On these assumptions the BV keeps €775 more in total.

Sole tradership

€73,196

Net to spend

€73,971

Total

You pay everything out. Private money this year and the total are then the same: €73,971.

On these assumptions the BV’s total is higher between €113,747 and €362,031. Outside that band the sole tradership keeps more. Above the band an extra euro is cheaper in the sole tradership, because the SME profit exemption then saves more than the gap with corporate tax plus box 2. That comparison includes the latent box 2.

Liability is not in this figure. In a sole tradership you are personally bound by the debts. A BV limits that. A bank or supplier often still asks for a personal guarantee.

Amounts are rounded to the euro. An assessment can differ by a euro because of that.

Talk through this result

Or calculate the bookkeeping fee Assumptions and sources

Sole tradership

Profit before this administration€120,000

Administration€1,188

Profit after administration€118,812

Self-employed deduction€1,200

SME profit exemption€14,937

Taxable profit€102,675

Income tax€41,765

Income-related health contribution€3,851

Net to spend€73,196

38.4% of the profit after administration goes to income tax and the health contribution.

BV

Profit before this administration€120,000

Administration€4,788

Profit after administration€115,212

Inside the company

Director’s salary, gross€58,000

Profit in the BV€57,212

Corporate tax€10,870

After corporate tax€46,342

Private this year

Dividend this year€46,342

Box 2 on that dividend€11,354

Dividend, net€34,988

Payroll tax€16,204

Health contribution on the salary€2,813

Salary, net€38,983

Private this year€73,971

What stays in the BV

In the BV before latent box 2€0

Latent box 2€0

In the BV after latent box 2€0

Total€73,971

35.8% of the profit after administration goes to payroll tax, the health contribution, corporate tax and box 2.

What we calculate with

The rates are those of 2026, for someone who has not yet reached AOW age. No income other than the wage from a job that you enter. No box 3 and no owner-occupied home. A benefit is not that wage.
Box 1: 35.75% up to €38,883, 37.56% up to €78,426, then 49.50%.
The general tax credit is €3,115 at most, tapers by 6.398% from €29,736 and is nil from €78,426. It looks at combined income. Dividend you pay out this year counts. Latent box 2 does not yet.
The labour credit follows the Dutch tax authority’s 2026 table. A wage from a job always counts. For the sole tradership the profit counts only with the hours test, before the self-employed deduction and before the SME profit exemption. For the BV the director’s salary counts. We calculate the credit once on that total.
The self-employed deduction is €1,200, only with the hours test, and not higher than the profit. We do not carry a remainder into a later year.
The SME profit exemption is 12.7% of the profit after the self-employed deduction. The hours test is not required for it.
The self-employed deduction and the SME profit exemption give at most 37.56% relief in the 49.50% bracket. In the first bracket the relief stays 35.75%.
The health contribution you pay yourself is 4.85% on a maximum of €79,409. A wage from a job uses that maximum first. Your employer pays the contribution on that wage; we do not deduct it from your net wage. For the sole tradership your own contribution is on the profit after the self-employed deduction, not reduced by the SME profit exemption, and only on the room left under the maximum. For the director it is on the director’s salary, in the same way. We do not add the 6.10% employer levy on the director’s salary: a director with a substantial shareholding is usually not insured for employee insurance and pays the contribution personally. The nominal health-insurance premium is not included.
Corporate tax is 19% up to €200,000 and 25.8% above that, on one pool of profit. Splitting profit across two companies is not counted. A dividend from the operating BV to the holding falls under the participation exemption and costs nothing extra in this check.
Box 2 is 24.5% up to €68,843 per person and 31% above that. With a fiscal partner the first bracket doubles. The 15% dividend withholding tax is a prepayment and is included in this box 2 figure, not added on top.
Money that stays in the BV is reduced by the extra box 2 you would pay if you distributed it this year on top of the dividend already paid. Spreading dividends over later years, so the 24.5% bracket starts again, is not counted as a benefit.
The director’s salary defaults to €58,000. We do not pay out more than this year’s profit after administration.

What is left out

The notary, a contribution in kind, goodwill, and a conversion with or without tax deferral
The starters’ deduction, a co-working partner deduction, investment schemes, pension and a car
Mortgage interest, the owner-occupied home and benefits
Employee insurance and the employer health-insurance levy
Loss relief and the innovation box
Liability and a personal guarantee

Sources

Questions about this check

I also have a job. Does that count?

Yes. Enter your gross annual wage from another employer. That wage is in all three results: the job alone, the job plus a sole tradership, and the job plus a BV. The brackets and credits apply once to the whole. Hours in that job do not count towards the hours test. A benefit, the home, box 3 and a partner's wage are not included. The salary you pay yourself from the BV is a separate field, the director’s salary.

Is there a profit at which a BV is always better?

No. It depends on the salary, how much you distribute, a fiscal partner and the administration fees. This check finds the threshold for your inputs. A fixed band between €100,000 and €150,000 is not a rule.

Is money left in the BV already mine?

It still belongs to the BV. We show it separately, after the box 2 you would still pay if you distributed it in one go on top of this year’s dividend. Private money this year is only salary and dividend after tax.

Why do the administration fees differ from other calculators?

The default is 12 times the indicative basis fee from DT Admin, excluding VAT. You can change both amounts. Payslips and software are left out.

Can the director’s salary be lower than €58,000?

The usual-wage rule takes the highest of three amounts: a comparable wage, the highest wage in the company, or €58,000 in 2026. A lower wage is possible when comparable work demonstrably pays less, for example because you work fewer hours in the BV beside a job. The check uses what you enter and says so.

Why can a sole tradership be cheaper again at a very high profit?

Because this check reduces the money in the BV by the box 2 you pay when you distribute it. In the top brackets the SME profit exemption then saves more than the gap with corporate tax plus box 2. If you leave the profit in the BV for years, you do not pay that box 2 yet. This check does not count that deferral as a benefit.

Is this advice on whether to incorporate?

No. It is an indication using the 2026 rates. DT Admin is not a statutory auditor and does not audit annual accounts. The one-off cost of a conversion is not included.

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