VAT supplementary return for a prior financial year: what does it mean for the annual accounts?
You file the suppletie with the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration). For the annual accounts what matters most is when you discover the error: before or after adoption.
The short answer
If you discover the VAT error before the annual accounts are adopted, you process it in those annual accounts insofar as necessary for the true and fair view (RJ 160, RJk A4). If you discover it afterwards, you correct it in the next annual accounts not yet adopted: a material error via opening equity and the comparative figures (RJ 150, RJk A3.3), a non-material error in the result of the current year.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| VAT side | Up to € 1.000 you process it in the next return; above € 1.000 you file a suppletie, within eight weeks of discovery; corrections are possible up to five years after the year to which they relate (Belastingdienst) |
| Annual accounts side | RJ 150 and RJk A3.3 (error), RJ 160 and RJk A4 (event after the balance sheet date) |
| Legal basis | art. 2:362(6) DCC and art. 2:363(5) DCC |
First the VAT, briefly
You correct a VAT return that was too low or too high as follows. For an amount up to € 1.000 you include the difference in your next return, in the same box. For more than € 1.000 you file the form Suppletie btw via Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, as soon as possible and within eight weeks after you discovered the error. For too little VAT paid an additional assessment follows; tax interest and a fine may be added. Tax interest is not due if you correct within three months after the end of the year in which the VAT was due. You can correct up to five years after the year concerned. This page leaves the tax procedure at that; the amounts and conditions are on belastingdienst.nl.
What it means for the annual accounts: one question first
Have the annual accounts for the year containing the error already been adopted? That determines the route.
| Moment of discovery | What it is | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Before preparation | The books are still open | Correct the entries; no note needed |
| Between preparation and adoption | Event after the balance sheet date that clarifies the situation at the balance sheet date (RJ 160, RJk A4) | Adjust the annual accounts before adoption (art. 2:362(6) DCC: the annual accounts are adopted taking into account what has come to light up to the meeting, insofar as indispensable) |
| After adoption, material | Error (RJ 150, RJk A3.3) | Correct in the next annual accounts not yet adopted: opening equity and comparative figures, plus notes. See RJ 150 |
| After adoption, not material | Error of minor size | Book the correction in the result of the year in which you discover it, at the line item where it belongs |
The name "suppletie" changes nothing about the assessment. The commercial annual accounts look at the cause: was an obligation or receivable misstated at the balance sheet date? If so, the correction belongs to the year to which the VAT relates, and you follow the error or event rules. The year in which you file the form is not decisive for the annual accounts.
When is a VAT error material?
An error is material if readers of the annual accounts could take different decisions because of it. You assess that by size and nature (RJ 150.103; RJk A3.303). There is no rule of thumb in euros. Compare the amount with equity, the result and cash, and look at whether it touches a covenant, a dividend resolution or continuity. An amount of € 6.000 can be material at a BV with a result of € 15.000 and not at a BV with € 150.000.
The VAT itself is rarely the whole effect. VAT forgotten to be paid is a liability that was missing in the old year; input tax wrongly deducted is a cost that was not deductible. To that are added tax interest, possibly a fine and the corporate income tax effect. The latter follow in principle the same route as the error; have a significant fine or interest assessed by your accountant.
Case: too much input tax deducted at Koster Webdiensten BV
Koster Webdiensten BV (fictitious, small) adopted the 2024 annual accounts on 20 June 2025. In April 2026, while preparing the 2025 annual accounts, the bookkeeper sees that in 2024 € 6.300 of input tax was deducted on a privately used lease car. On 10 April 2026 the BV files a suppletie (within eight weeks) and receives an additional assessment of € 6.300 plus € 190 tax interest. The 2025 annual accounts have not yet been adopted. The corporate income tax rate is 19%.
The board weighs size and nature: € 6.300 is 3% of the equity of € 210.000 at 31 December 2024, it touches no covenant or dividend resolution and no continuity, and it is one-off. The total effect of € 6.490 is well over 10% of the result after tax, but the readers of these annual accounts are the shareholder and the bank, and the bank looks at equity. The board therefore judges the error not material; with a different weighing the route for a material error follows. The BV therefore books in 2025:
| Before the correction | Correction | After the correction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Result before tax 2025 | € 75.000 | − € 6.490 | € 68.510 |
| Corporate income tax 19% | € 14.250 | − € 1.233 | € 13.017 |
| Result after tax 2025 | € 60.750 | − € 5.257 | € 55.493 |
The correction of € 6.490 consists of € 6.300 other operating costs and € 190 interest expense; € 6.490 × 19% = € 1.233 (rounded). Check: € 6.490 − € 1.233 = € 5.257 and € 60.750 − € 5.257 = € 55.493. The comparative figures for 2024 stay as they are. If the same error were € 60.000 and material, opening equity at 1 January 2025 would fall by € 48.600 (€ 60.000 less € 11.400 corporate income tax effect), the comparative figures for 2024 would be adjusted and a note added (RJ 150.204; RJk A3.307). The corporate income tax for 2024 itself the BV settles separately with the Belastingdienst.
What is in the annual accounts per size class?
| Class | Non-material error | Material error |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | No note needed; the correction is in the result | Correction via opening equity and comparative figures; you mention the revision briefly (art. 2:363(5) DCC) |
| Small | No note needed | Note: nature and size, effect and differences with the original comparative figures (RJk A3.307 and A3.308) |
| Medium-sized and large | No note needed | As small, plus correction in the statement of changes in equity; the accountant assesses it |
If the already adopted annual accounts fall seriously short in giving a true and fair view because of the error, the board notifies the shareholders immediately and files a notice with the Business Register (art. 2:362(6) DCC). That is rare with a VAT correction. See correcting filed annual accounts.
Common mistakes
- Booking the suppletie in the year in which you file the form, instead of the year to which the VAT relates, while that year has not yet been adopted.
- Booking the assessment without the interest and the corporate income tax effect.
- Letting a material correction disappear as "other income and expenses" in the current result.
- Replacing the filed annual accounts, whereas correction in the next annual accounts is the rule.
How it works at Jaarrekening.io
In the Bookkeeping of Jaarrekening.io you prepare the suppletie from your entries; you file it yourself with the Belastingdienst. For the annual accounts the app asks whether you have corrected a material error and what the consequences for equity are. What is material is decided by the board.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
In which financial year do I book a VAT suppletie for a closed year?
Book the correction in the year to which the VAT relates as long as those annual accounts have not been adopted. If they have been adopted, you correct a material error in the next annual accounts not yet adopted, via opening equity and the comparative figures (RJ 150). A non-material error you book in the result of the current year.
Must I amend filed annual accounts after a VAT suppletie?
Usually not. You correct the error in the next annual accounts. Only if the filed annual accounts fall seriously short in giving a true and fair view because of the error does the board notify the shareholders and file a notice with the Business Register (art. 2:362(6) DCC).
From what amount must I file a VAT suppletie?
According to the Belastingdienst you correct an error up to € 1.000 in the next VAT return. For more than € 1.000 you file the form Suppletie btw, as soon as possible and within eight weeks of discovery. You can correct up to five years after the year to which it relates.
Is a VAT assessment an event after the balance sheet date?
That depends on the cause. If it turns out before adoption that VAT for the financial year was not or incorrectly paid, the assessment gives more insight into the situation at the balance sheet date and you adjust the annual accounts (RJ 160). A new situation after the balance sheet date, such as a changed law, you do not process but explain if the effect is important.
Do I book tax interest and a fine on the assessment in the same period as the VAT?
In principle they follow the route of the error itself: for a non-material error you book them in the current year. For a material error you can include them in the correction. Have significant interest or a fine assessed by your accountant.
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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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