Filing deadline and extension: how long can you file?

The short answer

A BV or NV prepares the annual accounts within five months after the financial year; the general meeting can extend that period by at most five months because of special circumstances. After adoption you file within eight days. The final limit is twelve months after the end of the financial year. There is no extension of that limit.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

The chain of deadlines

The law has no single publication deadline but a series. The board prepares the annual accounts and makes them available for inspection by the shareholders. The general meeting adopts them. Within eight days after that, the legal entity publishes them by filing with the Business Register (art. 2:394(1) DCC).

Two safety nets keep the chain from stalling. If the annual accounts have not been adopted within two months after the end of the preparation period, the board publishes the prepared annual accounts without delay, stating that they have not yet been adopted (art. 2:394(2) DCC). And whatever happens: the annual accounts must be public no later than twelve months after the end of the financial year (art. 2:394(3) DCC).

If all shareholders are also directors, signing by all directors and supervisory directors counts as adoption, unless the articles of association exclude this (art. 2:210(5) DCC). The eight days then start on the day of signing.

Deadlines per legal form

An extension requires a resolution and a reason: the law speaks of special circumstances. The final date does not shift as a result. After a maximum extension, a BV has two months left for adoption and filing.

What an extension is and is not

The word extension is used for three different things.

• Extension of the preparation period. This is the only extension the legal entity can arrange itself, through the general meeting.
• Extension of filing. This does not exist. The KVK points out that under the law it is not possible to obtain an extension for filing the annual accounts.
• Exemption by the minister. The Minister of Economic Affairs can, for weighty reasons, grant an exemption from the duty to prepare, submit and adopt (art. 2:210(8) DCC); the publication duty then does not apply (art. 2:394(5) DCC). This is meant for exceptional cases.

An extension for the corporate income tax return is separate from this. The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) grants that, and it changes nothing about the deadlines of Book 2 DCC; see corporate income tax extension and the KVK.

Worked example: four scenarios for financial year 2025

A BV has a financial year equal to calendar year 2025. The preparation period ends on 31 May 2026 and, after maximum extension, on 31 October 2026.

With a non-calendar financial year all dates shift accordingly. If the financial year runs from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, the preparation period ends on 30 November 2026, after maximum extension on 30 April 2027, and the final date is 30 June 2027. The same applies to an extended first financial year. The filing deadline calculator works it out for your financial year.

Deadlines per size class

The deadlines are the same for all size classes. What differs is what you must have ready within that time.

What happens if you are late

• Criminal offence. Breaching the twelve-month deadline is an economic offence (art. 1 under 4° WED): a minor offence punishable by detention of at most six months, community service or a fine of the fourth category (art. 6(1) under 5° WED).
• Liability in bankruptcy. If the board has not complied with art. 2:394 DCC, it is established that it has performed its duties improperly, and it is presumed that this is an important cause of the bankruptcy (art. 2:248(2) DCC). The trustee can look back three years; an insignificant omission does not count.
• Dissolution. If the legal entity has been in default of publication for at least a year and one of the other statutory circumstances also applies, the KVK dissolves it after an announcement (art. 2:19a(1), (3) and (4) DCC).

If you are already late, the recovery steps are in the guide to filing late. A dissolved legal entity has its own route; see if the BV has been dissolved.

Common mistakes

• Reading five months as the filing deadline. That period is about preparing.
• Extending without a resolution. Without a resolution of the general meeting, the preparation period has simply expired.
• Counting twelve months from the extension. The limit runs from the end of the financial year.
• Waiting for the tax return. The corporate income tax return and the filing each have their own calendar.
• Arranging KVK access too late. An authorisation for the portal is confirmed by letter.

Deadlines in Jaarrekening.io

Jaarrekening.io calculates, per financial year and legal form, the dates for preparing, the final date after extension and the final filing date, and shows them in the file. After filing you record the KVK's receipt reference. The software keeps track of the dates; you submit yourself.

Sources

• Art. 2:210 DCC: preparation period, extension, adoption and exemption for the BV (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:101 DCC: the same rules for the NV (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:58 DCC: cooperative and mutual insurance association (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:49 DCC: association running a business (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:300 DCC: foundation (stichting) running a business (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:394 DCC: eight days, two months and twelve months (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:248 DCC: directors' liability in bankruptcy (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:19a DCC: dissolution by the Chamber of Commerce (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Economic Offences Act (Wet op de economische delicten), art. 1 under 4°, art. 2(4) and art. 6 (wetten.overheid.nl)
• KVK: Final date for filing annual accounts
• KVK: Filing with SBR

Read more