RSIN

What is the RSIN?

RSIN stands for Rechtspersonen en Samenwerkingsverbanden Informatienummer (Legal Entities and Partnerships Information Number), an identification number for certain legal entities and partnerships in the Netherlands.

It is used in data exchange with the Dutch authorities. It is not the same as a KVK number and says nothing about size or financial position.

How does it work?

RSIN stands for Rechtspersonen en Samenwerkingsverbanden Informatienummer. According to the KVK, businesses and organisations receive it on registration in the Business Register, in addition to the KVK number; only sole proprietorships do not get one. A BV, foundation, association, vof or maatschap therefore has an RSIN.

The number is above all the key to the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst). The VAT identification number of a legal entity consists of the country code NL, the RSIN, the letter B and two digits; the turnover tax number is the same without NL (Ondernemersplein). Title 9 mentions the RSIN nowhere; what the notes must state is the KVK number under which the legal entity is registered (art. 2:380b DCC).

Example

A BV has KVK number 12345678 and RSIN 001234567 (fictitious numbers). Its VAT identification number is then NL001234567B01 and its turnover tax number 001234567B01. If the same shareholder sets up a second BV, it gets its own KVK number and its own RSIN, even if both are at the same address and together make € 400,000 turnover. A foreign company that registers for corporate income tax receives an RSIN from the Dutch Tax Administration and uses it to apply for eHerkenning. The annual accounts of each BV state its own KVK number.

In the annual accounts

Identification in registers and reports; not a balance sheet or P&L item.

Difference from KVK number

The KVK number has eight digits and shows that a business or organisation is registered; a sole proprietorship has one too. The RSIN has nine digits and exists only for legal entities and partnerships. You use the KVK number in trade and when filing, the RSIN with the Dutch Tax Administration and other authorities.

Common mistakes

• Using the RSIN as the KVK number
• Seeing the number as a VAT balance

What to watch for

• You find your own RSIN in Mijn KVK and someone else’s on an extract from the Business Register; publication on the website is not mandatory.
• When filing a corporate income tax return or authorisation, check that the RSIN of the right BV was used; a holding and an operating company are easily mixed up.
• For micro entities the disclosure obligation of art. 2:380b lapses (art. 2:395a(6) DCC), but there too the KVK registers the documents by KVK number and not by RSIN.

Legal basis and sources

Handelsregisterwet 2007 (Business Register Act 2007); KVK

• Chamber of Commerce (KVK)
• KVK: RSIN and KVK number
• Ondernemersplein: numbers for VAT
• KVK: KVK number
• Belastingdienst: filing a corporate income tax return

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