RJ 630: the commercial foundation and association

The short answer

A foundation or association falls under Title 9 if its enterprises together achieve at least € 7,5 mln net turnover in two consecutive financial years, unless another law already requires an equivalent public accountability (art. 2:360(3) DCC). RJ 630 elaborates this: Title 9 then applies to all activities and equity shows what can be freely spent.

Updated 30 October 2026

Key facts

When a foundation or association is commercial

3. This title also applies to the foundation and the association that maintain one or more enterprises which by law must be entered in the Business Register, if the net turnover of these enterprises during two consecutive financial years without interruption thereafter during two consecutive financial years, amounts to half or more of the amount referred to in article 396(1)(b), as amended pursuant to article 398(4). If the foundation or association is required by or pursuant to the law to prepare a financial accountability equivalent to annual accounts as referred to in this title and if this is made public, the first sentence does not apply.

Half of the turnover threshold for small is € 7,5 mln for financial years from 1 January 2024. RJ 630 fills in the test on four points:

• Enterprise. This concerns the enterprise concepts of the Business Register Act (Handelsregisterwet): participating in economic life in competition with others. Whether the enterprise is actually registered does not matter; the obligation to register decides (RJ 630.102).
• Own enterprises only. An enterprise run by a subsidiary BV (private limited company) of the foundation does not count (RJ 630.103).
• Turnover only. Gifts, subsidies, membership fees and interest stay outside the test; if the legal entity has more enterprises, their turnover counts together (RJ 630.106 and 630.209).
• First years. For a new foundation, RJ 630.105 recommends applying the rule of art. 2:398(1) DCC by analogy: if it reaches the threshold in the first financial year, Title 9 applies for the first and second year.

The exception in the second sentence requires a statutory accountability that matches Title 9 in level and nature and is made public, not necessarily through the Business Register (RJ 630.107). Housing corporations, healthcare institutions and schools have such a regime of their own; see RJ 645, RJ 655 and RJ 660.

If the foundation falls under Title 9, that applies to the whole legal entity, not only to the shop or business (RJ 630.108). Even below the threshold, every foundation or association with an enterprise that must be registered states its net turnover with the statement of income and expenses (art. 2:299a and 2:48(3) DCC).

Which size class

5. For the application of articles 396(1) and 397(1) to a foundation or an association as referred to in article 360(3), the starting point is the total assets of the foundation or association and, having regard to article 396(2), the net turnover and the average number of employees of the enterprise or enterprises maintained by this foundation or association.

Assets therefore count for the whole legal entity, but turnover and employees only for the enterprise. With the thresholds for financial years from 2024, the legal entity is small if it meets at least two of: assets up to € 7,5 mln, turnover up to € 15 mln, fewer than < 50 employees; medium-sized at two of: up to € 25 mln, up to € 50 mln, fewer than < 250. Because turnover is already at least € 7,5 mln, most commercial foundations end up as small, medium-sized or large (RJ 630.401).

What is different in the annual accounts compared with a BV

• Formats. The Besluit modellen jaarrekening (Dutch Annual Accounts Formats Decree) formally applies to NV and BV, but the commercial foundation and association apply it correspondingly, with their own headings for non-enterprise activities (RJ 630.201, a firm statement).
• Operating account. Permitted if it serves insight (art. 2:361(2) DCC); many foundations speak of a statement of income and expenses.
• Net turnover and activities. Only income from the enterprise is net turnover (RJ 630.209). If there are also other activities, the notes explain the nature and extent of both (RJ 630.307).
• Prices below market. If the foundation obtains goods or services more cheaply because of its character, RJ 630.301 recommends stating this, if possible with the effect in amounts.
• Remuneration. Under art. 2:383 DCC; under the WNT (the Dutch Public and Semi-Public Sector Senior Officials Remuneration Standards Act), the WNT disclosure may suffice (RJ 630.308).

Equity: freely available or committed

A foundation may not distribute to its founders or members of its bodies, and an association may not distribute to its members (art. 2:285(3) and 2:26(3) DCC). The assets are there for the purpose. That is why RJ 630.202 asks for a structure that shows which part is freely available:

The difference between fund and reserve is practical: the board can lift a designated reserve itself, a fund it cannot. The appropriation of the result is in the notes, with the provision in the articles on it (art. 2:383a DCC); that provision need not be in the other information (art. 2:392(5) DCC).

Case: Stichting Kringloop Deltaland

Stichting Kringloop Deltaland (fictitious) runs six second-hand shops with turnover of € 8.300.000 in 2025 and € 8.900.000 in 2026. In addition, it runs a reintegration programme for the municipality, with a subsidy of € 1.600.000 a year. Two years above the threshold: the 2026 annual accounts fall under Title 9.

Size class. The foundation as a whole has € 11.200.000 of assets. An average of 58 people work in the shops, and another 23 in the reintegration programme. Only the 58 count. With assets above and employees above the threshold for small, Deltaland is medium-sized, and it was on the previous balance sheet date as well. Had 46 people worked in the shops, it would have been small, even though more than 50 work in the foundation as a whole.

For the fund, the notes state the donor's condition (only for the new sorting centre, spent before the end of 2028) and for the reserve that the board established it. They split shops and reintegration, and report that the margin is not comparable with that of an ordinary shop because of donated inventory. For the turnover test, only shop turnover counted, not the subsidy or the gifts.

By size class

If the enterprise's turnover falls below the threshold for two years in a row, the foundation reverts to art. 2:10 DCC: a balance sheet and statement of income and expenses without filing, or to RJ 640 as a guideline.

Deadlines and adoption

Prepare within six months, in special circumstances an extension of at most four months, adopt at the latest one month after that (art. 2:49 DCC for the association, art. 2:300 DCC for the foundation). For a foundation, the body designated by the articles adopts, otherwise the supervisory body and otherwise the board (RJ 630.403). The steps are in preparing the annual accounts of a foundation.

Common mistakes

• Counting subsidies or gifts towards the turnover threshold.
• Applying Title 9 only to the enterprise.
• Showing an earmarked gift as a designated reserve instead of as a fund.
• Counting staff outside the enterprise towards the size class.

How it works in Jaarrekening.io

A foundation or association gets the annual accounts route in Jaarrekening.io after you confirm when creating it that it meets art. 2:360(3) DCC. The app then calls the income statement a statement of income and expenses, splits designated reserves and designated funds in the equity overview, asks about the purpose and conditions of each fund and about statutory reserves, and writes the paragraph on the enterprise and other activities. Whether a gift is a fund or a reserve remains your judgement.

Sources

• Art. 2:360 DCC: when Title 9 applies to a foundation and association (wetten.overheid.nl)
• Art. 2:398 DCC: size class of the foundation with an enterprise
• Art. 2:383a DCC: appropriation of result of foundation and association
• Art. 2:300 DCC: annual accounts of the foundation under Title 9
• Art. 2:49 DCC: annual accounts of the association under Title 9
• Dutch Accounting Standards Board: the Guidelines

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