Can I Claim Professional Fees (Accountant, Legal, Advisory) as a Business Expense in Netherlands?
Accountancy, legal, tax advisory, and other professional service fees incurred for business purposes are fully deductible for Dutch VPB. Fees directly related to capital transactions such as M&A legal costs for acquiring a subsidiary are capitalised into the cost base rather than expensed.
What Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax and Customs Administration) says
Wet VPB 1969 Art. 8 jo. Wet IB 2001 Art. 3.8: professional fees are deductible as ordinary business costs. Capital transaction costs are treated as acquisition costs under Art. 4.21 Wet IB (cost base of shares).
When you can claim
- Accountancy and bookkeeping fees including jaarrekening preparation, VPB return, and payroll administration
- Tax advice, legal fees for commercial contracts, employment disputes, and general legal support
- HR advisory, recruitment agency fees, management consulting, and corporate secretarial fees
- IT advisory, software implementation advice, and audit fees for companies subject to statutory audit
When you cannot claim
- Professional fees for acquiring shares in a subsidiary — these are capitalised as acquisition cost, not expensed
- Fees for personal (non-business) legal or tax advice of the DGA in a personal capacity
Good to know
Pro tip: BTW on most Dutch professional services is 21% and fully recoverable as input tax for BTW-registered businesses. Ensure every invoice includes the supplier's BTW-id and KvK number before filing the BTW return, as missing details block input BTW recovery.
Important: For fees paid to foreign professional firms, reverse charge BTW applies. Account for 21% output BTW and simultaneously claim the same as input BTW on the quarterly BTW return (Box 2 for acquired services from abroad).
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