Annual accounts of a Dutch foundation (stichting) and ANBI publication

What does a Dutch foundation have to do with its annual accounts?

A Dutch stichting prepares a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenses every year within six months (art. 2:10 DCC). Filing with the KVK (Dutch Chamber of Commerce) is only required if it maintains a business with net turnover of at least € 7.5 million in two consecutive financial years (art. 2:360(3) DCC). An ANBI (institution for the public benefit) also publishes its data and financial accountability online within six months.

• Large ANBIs must use the standard form: fundraising with more than € 50,000 in income, or non-fundraising with more than € 100,000 in expenses in the financial year.
• Financial year 2025 equal to the calendar year: the ANBI publication is online before 1 July 2026.
• The Dutch reporting guidelines (Richtlijnen voor de Jaarverslaggeving) have their own chapters for non-profit organisations: RJ 640 and, for small organisations, RJk C1. Fundraising organisations also follow RJ 650 or RJk C2.

What do you need?

• The articles of association: purpose, financial year and which body adopts the annual accounts.
• The bookkeeping for 2025 and the bank statements as at 31 December 2025.
• An overview of grants, donations and designated funds with their conditions.
• The policy plan and a report of the activities, for the ANBI publication.
• Names and positions of the directors and the remuneration policy.
• The RSIN or tax number of the foundation.
• The correct variant of the standard form of the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst).

Annual accounts and ANBI publication in eight steps

1. Determine which regime applies to your foundation
2. Choose the reporting guideline
3. Close the bookkeeping
4. Prepare the balance sheet and statement of income and expenses
5. Have the annual accounts adopted
6. Determine whether you are a large ANBI
7. Publish the ANBI data before 1 July 2026
8. File only if the law requires it

Step 1. Determine which regime applies to your foundation

Virtually every stichting is subject to art. 2:10 DCC: bookkeeping, and within six months after the financial year a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenses on paper. If the stichting maintains one or more businesses that must be entered in the Business Register, and their net turnover in two consecutive financial years is at least half of the turnover threshold for small entities, now € 7.5 million, Title 9 applies in full, with an obligation to file.

Why: The regime determines whether you prepare and file full annual accounts under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code, or whether your own financial accountability is enough.

art. 2:10(2) DCCart. 2:360(3) DCCart. 2:300 DCC

Note: What counts is the net turnover of the business the stichting maintains, not the total income including donations and grants.

Support: In its annual accounts route, Jaarrekening.io is intended only for foundations and associations that fall under art. 2:360(3) DCC; a small foundation with only a statement of income and expenses can use the app for its bookkeeping, not for its annual accounts.

Step 2. Choose the reporting guideline

Non-profit organisations follow RJ 640, small organisations RJk C1. Separate chapters exist for fundraising organisations. For reporting years from 2025, a fundraising organisation is small if its consolidated income stays below € 1,000,000 in two consecutive years; when applying the RJ, RJk C2 then applies, otherwise RJ 650. The guidelines describe, among other things, how to treat donations, grants and designated funds.

Why: Readers, funds and grant providers expect a report in the form that fits your type of organisation.

RJ 640RJk C1RJ 650RJk C2

Note: A fund or grant provider may set its own requirements for the accountability. Read the grant decision before you choose the form.

Step 3. Close the bookkeeping

Reconcile bank and cash with the statements, process received and promised donations, and assess grants: which part has been spent in line with the conditions, which part may have to be repaid? Keep donations with a purpose set by the donor separate as a designated fund. Also work through the year-end closing checklist as far as it applies to your foundation.

Why: For a foundation, accountability revolves around whether the money was spent on the purpose. That must be visible in the figures.

art. 2:10(1) DCC

Note: A grant you must repay if the activity does not go ahead is not automatically fully income. Look at the conditions in the grant decision.

Step 4. Prepare the balance sheet and statement of income and expenses

The balance sheet shows assets, reserves and funds, and liabilities. The statement of income and expenses shows income by source, such as donations, grants and revenue from activities, and expenses, which for fundraising organisations are split into spending on the objective, fundraising costs and costs of management and administration. Add a short note with the accounting policies and the main items.

Why: These are the documents the board must prepare within six months, and that you need for the ANBI publication.

art. 2:10(2) DCC

Note: The term profit and loss account does not suit a foundation without a profit motive; the law and the RJ speak of a statement of income and expenses. A surplus is not profit but an addition to reserves or funds.

Step 5. Have the annual accounts adopted

The body designated for this by the articles of association adopts the annual accounts. If the stichting falls under Title 9, the board prepares them within six months, extendable by at most four months, directors and supervisors sign, and the competent body adopts them no later than one month after that period; if the articles designate no one, the supervisory body does, and otherwise the board.

Why: Adopted annual accounts are the board's official accountability, and the starting point for the ANBI publication.

art. 2:300(1) to (3) DCC

Note: Record the decision and the date in the minutes. When a treasurer is replaced, that is often the only evidence of what was adopted.

Step 6. Determine whether you are a large ANBI

A large ANBI is a fundraising institution with more than € 50,000 in total income in the financial year, or a non-fundraising ANBI with more than € 100,000 in total expenses. Large ANBIs must use a standard form. There are variants for ANBIs in general, fundraising institutions, churches, educational institutions, asset funds, social housing and care institutions.

Why: The standard form makes ANBIs comparable with each other. If you are not a large ANBI, you may use the form, but you do not have to.

Dutch Tax Administration: ANBI publication obligation

Note: Fundraising means that you actively raise money or goods from third parties. A foundation that only receives grants generally does not; the expenses threshold then applies.

Step 7. Publish the ANBI data before 1 July 2026

Publish on your own website or a shared website, on a findable page with its own URL: the name, the RSIN or tax number, the contact details, the objective, the main points of the policy plan, the positions and names of the directors, the remuneration policy, a current report of the activities and the financial accountability. That accountability consists at least of the balance sheet, the statement of income and expenses and notes for the last financial year. Large ANBIs do this with the standard form.

Why: The publication obligation is a condition for ANBI status. If an ANBI does not meet its obligations, the Dutch Tax Administration can withdraw the status, also retroactively.

Dutch Tax Administration: publishing financial accountability

Note: If the web address changes, report it with the form 'Opgaaf internetadres ANBI' (ANBI web address notification). A dead link counts as not published.

Step 8. File only if the law requires it

If the stichting falls under art. 2:360(3) DCC, it files with the KVK like a BV: within eight days after adoption and no later than twelve months after the financial year. According to the KVK, commercial foundations and non-profit organisations can also use the self-filing portal (Zelf Deponeren). A small legal entity without a profit motive can, under conditions, forgo filing, with a statement from an accountant (art. 2:396(9) DCC). All other foundations file nothing and keep their documents for seven years.

Why: The ANBI publication and the filing with the KVK are two different obligations, towards two different bodies.

art. 2:394 DCCart. 2:396(9) DCCart. 2:10(3) DCC

Note: Do not confuse the two: the Dutch Tax Administration looks at your website, the KVK at the Business Register.

Example: which obligations does this foundation have?

A stichting without a business has income of € 140,000 for 2025 (€ 90,000 in donations from its own public campaign and € 50,000 in grants) and expenses of € 128,000. Its financial year is the calendar year and it has ANBI status.

If the stichting did not raise money from third parties, the expenses threshold would apply: € 128,000 is more than € 100,000. It would then also be a large ANBI, with the standard form for ANBIs in general.

Timeline for financial year 2025 (equal to the calendar year)

When do you involve an accountant or adviser?

You need an accountant if a grant provider or fund requires an auditor's report, if the stichting falls under Title 9 and is medium-sized or large, or for the statement under the exemption of art. 2:396(9) DCC. A treasurer can close the books of a small foundation well alone, using the guideline for small non-profit organisations as a guide.

Sources

• Art. 2:10 DCC (wetten.overheid.nl): balance sheet and statement of income and expenses within six months, keep for seven years
• Art. 2:300 DCC (wetten.overheid.nl): stichting under Title 9: prepare, sign and adopt
• Art. 2:360 DCC (wetten.overheid.nl): when Title 9 applies to a stichting
• Art. 2:396 DCC (wetten.overheid.nl): exemption from filing for small legal entities without a profit motive
• Dutch Tax Administration: Publishing ANBI data: large ANBIs, standard forms, publication within 6 months, list of required data
• Dutch Tax Administration: Publishing financial accountability: balance sheet, statement of income and expenses and notes within 6 months
• Dutch Tax Administration: Standard form ANBI publication obligation, general: standard form mandatory for large ANBIs since 1 January 2021
• Dutch Tax Administration: What obligations does an ANBI have?: withdrawal of ANBI status, also retroactively
• KVK: Filing with SBR: digital obligation per class (2016, 2017, 2025), PKIoverheid certificate, filing is free, unadopted annual accounts via SBR
• RJ-Uiting 2025-1: Increase of the threshold for small fundraising organisations (rjnet.nl): threshold for a small fundraising organisation € 1,000,000 consolidated income in two consecutive years, for reporting years from 1 January 2025; RJ 650 or RJk C2
• RJ-Uiting 2024-19 (rjnet.nl): final chapters RJ 640, RJ 650, RJk C1 and RJk C2, in force for reporting years from 1 January 2025

All sources consulted on 5 October 2026. Statutory texts per Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code as in force from 1 July 2026.

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