The Dutch micro-entity regime (art. 2:395a DCC)
The lightest Dutch regime: short accounts, no notes, no audit, and only a balance sheet on the public register.
The short answer
A Dutch company is a micro entity if, on two consecutive balance sheet dates, it meets at least two of three tests: assets up to €450,000, net turnover up to €900,000 and fewer than 10 employees. It prepares a short balance sheet and profit and loss account without notes, needs no audit or management report, and files only the balance sheet with KVK.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Statute | Art. 2:395a DCC, with arts 2:398 and 2:362(4) |
| Thresholds | Assets €450,000, net turnover €900,000, fewer than 10 employees; two of three on two consecutive dates (financial years from 1 January 2024, optionally 2023) |
| Standards | RJk M1; RJk M2 for micro care and youth-care providers from financial year 2026 |
| Filed with KVK | The short balance sheet only, with the statements at its foot (art. 2:395a(8) DCC) |
| Excluded | Investment companies, participation undertakings and public-interest entities (art. 2:398(3), (6), (7) DCC) |
Qualifying as a micro entity
The test looks at two consecutive balance sheet dates. At each, at least two of the three criteria must be met: assets on a historical cost basis up to €450,000, net turnover up to €900,000, and an average of fewer than 10 employees (art. 2:395a(1) DCC). Figures of group companies that would have to be consolidated count too, unless the company uses the sub-consolidation exemption of art. 2:408 (lid 2). A personal holding company that does not head a group tests on its own figures (RJk M1.109). The limits were raised by decree for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2024, with the option to use them for 2023 and for the comparative year (RJk M1.101a); before that they were €350,000 and €700,000.
Once micro, a company stays micro until it misses the criteria on two consecutive balance sheet dates; one bad year changes nothing (RJk M1.107). A new company takes its class from the first balance sheet date alone and keeps it for the first and second financial years (art. 2:398(1) DCC). The general meeting can decide, within six months after the start of a financial year, not to use the micro exemptions for that year (lid 2). Three kinds of entity can never be micro: investment companies covered by art. 2:401 DCC, participation undertakings, meaning companies whose only purpose is to acquire and hold stakes for profit without involving themselves in managing them, and public-interest entities.
What a micro entity prepares
| Part | Content | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Balance sheet | Fixed assets (formation and share-issue costs shown separately), current assets (called-up unpaid capital shown separately), equity as one line, provisions, debts as one line with the amounts due within and after one year | art. 2:395a(4) DCC; RJk M1.203 |
| Profit and loss account | Net turnover, other operating income, raw materials and consumables, wages, depreciation and impairment, other operating costs, taxes, result after tax | art. 2:395a(5) DCC; RJk M1.205 |
| Comparatives | Previous year's figures for both statements | RJk M1.201 |
| Statements at the foot of the balance sheet | That no accruals were recognised for other operating costs, if that relief is used; an NV's dealings in its own shares; the use of tax bases, if chosen | art. 2:395a(3), (4), (7) DCC |
| Not required | Notes, management report, other information, audit | art. 2:395a(6) DCC |
Two reliefs are specific to micro entities. A micro entity need not recognise accrued or deferred items for other operating costs, such as rent paid in advance, provided it says so at the foot of the balance sheet (art. 2:395a(3) DCC; RJk M1.302). And it may measure all items on the tax bases used for corporate income tax, but only all of them; a mix of tax and commercial bases is not allowed (art. 2:395a(7) DCC).
Measurement otherwise follows Division 6 of Title 9 and the RJk (RJk M1.301). A micro entity may use current cost for tangible and intangible fixed assets other than investments, but it may not measure at market value, so financial instruments such as listed shares, and investment property, stay at cost or lower (RJk M1.303). In exceptional circumstances, such as a material uncertainty about going concern, the accounts must still give extra information so that they do not mislead (art. 2:362(4) DCC; RJk M1.202).
What a micro entity files
Only the short balance sheet goes to KVK, with the statements at its foot and the adoption date (arts 2:395a(8) and 2:394(1) DCC). The profit and loss account stays internal. Voluntary additions to the accounts need not be filed (RJk M1.402), but from financial year 2026 information added because of exceptional circumstances must also appear in the filed version (RJk M1.401). Filing runs through KVK's portal or SBR software; see the filing guide.
| Financial year | What applies to micro entities |
|---|---|
| 2025 | RJk edition 2025 with M1; thresholds as above; no explicit rule yet on publishing extra information |
| 2026 | M1 as amended in 2025: extra information under art. 2:362(4) is also published. New M2 for micro care providers, youth-care providers and certified institutions, which publish under their own sector rules rather than through KVK: care providers a limited balance sheet, youth-care providers and certified institutions also a limited profit and loss account |
| 2027 | RJk edition 2027; no change to the micro thresholds or to art. 2:395a |
Worked example: a micro BV of a foreign founder
A founder living abroad owns a fictitious Dutch consultancy BV. In 2024 and 2025 it has assets of €380,000, net turnover of €620,000 and three employees, so all three micro criteria are met at both dates. The 2025 profit and loss account, prepared for the general meeting but not filed, shows net turnover of €620,000, raw materials and consumables of €210,000, wages of €150,000, depreciation of €10,000 and other operating costs of €160,000: a result before tax of €90,000, taxes of €17,100 and a result after tax of €72,900.
| Balance sheet at 31 December 2025 (filed) | € |
|---|---|
| Fixed assets | 40,000 |
| Current assets | 340,000 |
| Total assets | 380,000 |
| Equity | 210,000 |
| Provisions | 0 |
| Debts (of which €150,000 due within one year and €20,000 after more than one year) | 170,000 |
| Total equity and liabilities | 380,000 |
Suppose instead that assets reach €520,000 and turnover €980,000 at the end of 2025. Two criteria are exceeded, but only at one date, so 2025 stays micro. If the same happens at the end of 2026, the BV is small for financial year 2026: it must then prepare notes, and it files a balance sheet with notes instead of the bare balance sheet.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the profit and loss account: it is not filed, but it must be prepared and adopted.
- Testing a holding company on its own figures when it heads a group.
- Assuming a micro BV need not file at all: the balance sheet must be on the register.
- Using tax values for some items and commercial values for others.
- Using the accruals relief without the statement at the foot of the balance sheet.
- Measuring listed shares or investment property at market value.
Micro accounts in Jaarrekening.io
For a micro entity, Jaarrekening.io prepares the balance sheet and profit and loss account for adoption and a publication version that contains only the balance sheet; voluntary statements under it are filed only if you choose. If you opt for tax bases, it asks you to confirm that every item uses them and places the statement under the balance sheet, and it asks whether the year is the first since incorporation. The first set of annual accounts in an account is free; after that a micro set costs €250 excluding VAT, once per financial year. The annual accounts are prepared in Dutch and the application files nothing with KVK itself.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What are the micro-entity thresholds in the Netherlands?
For financial years starting on or after 1 January 2024: assets up to €450,000, net turnover up to €900,000 and fewer than 10 employees on average. A company is micro if it meets at least two of the three on two consecutive balance sheet dates (art. 2:395a(1) DCC). The new limits may also be used for financial years that started in 2023.
Does a micro BV have to file a profit and loss account?
No. A micro entity prepares a short profit and loss account for adoption by the general meeting, but files only the balance sheet, with the statements at its foot, with KVK (art. 2:395a(8) DCC).
Does a micro entity need notes to the accounts?
No notes are required (art. 2:395a(6) DCC). A few statements go at the foot of the balance sheet, such as the use of tax bases or of the accruals relief, and in exceptional circumstances, for example a material going-concern uncertainty, extra information is needed so that the accounts are not misleading.
Can a holding company be a micro entity?
Yes, if it meets the criteria on the right basis. A holding company that heads a group counts the figures of the subsidiaries it would have to consolidate. A personal holding that does not head a group tests on its own figures. A company whose only object is to hold investments without involvement in their management is excluded from the micro regime.
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Preparing Dutch annual accounts?
Your first set of annual accounts is free, for every size class. Create an account and prepare the annual accounts of your Dutch company under Title 9 of Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code.
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