VAT number or VAT ID in the Netherlands: which to use

What is the difference between the VAT ID and the turnover tax number?

Every VAT business in the Netherlands gets two numbers from the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst). They look alike, but you use them for different things. If you mix them up as a sole trader, you publish your citizen service number online.

The VAT ID is the number people mean by VAT number. If a client or supplier asks for your VAT number, give them your VAT ID.

Which VAT number goes on your invoice and website?

Only your VAT ID. It belongs on your invoices, your letterhead and your website. You put your turnover tax number nowhere, and you never give it to clients. You do use it when you call or write to the Belastingdienst.

If you send an invoice with reverse charged VAT to a business in another EU country, put your own VAT ID and that of your client on it. Which details an invoice needs is explained in invoice requirements.

Note. Are you a sole trader and is your turnover tax number still on an old invoice template or in your email signature? Replace it with your VAT ID. Your turnover tax number contains your citizen service number.

Where do you find your VAT number?

1. After you register with the KvK you get a letter from the Belastingdienst within ten working days. It holds both your numbers. You do not request them separately.
2. Lost them? Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk with DigiD or eHerkenning.
3. Choose 'Btw' and then 'Btw-identificatienummer'. Both your VAT ID and your turnover tax number are there.

Your KvK number is something else. It is your number in the Trade Register and has eight digits. It usually goes on your invoice too, but it is not a VAT number.

How do you check a VAT number from another EU country?

If you work for a business in another EU country and want to reverse charge the VAT, first check their VAT ID. Do that in VIES, the checking site of the European Commission.

1. Go to VIES on the site of the European Commission.
2. Choose the country of your client.
3. Enter the VAT ID without the country code. If asked, also enter your own country and VAT ID.
4. Click verify and keep the result with your records.

If the number is invalid, or the name and address do not match, contact your client. For clients in Germany VIES shows no name and address, but you can still check the number itself. If VIES is down, try again later. It is an EU system.

An example

Noor is a translator with a sole trader business. She gets an assignment from a publisher in Belgium for €2,400.00. She checks the Belgian VAT ID in VIES: valid, name and address match. On her invoice she puts €2,400.00, no VAT, 'btw verlegd', her own VAT ID and that of the publisher. In her VAT return €2,400.00 goes in section 3b, and the ICP statement lists the same €2,400.00 with the Belgian VAT ID. Her turnover tax number appears nowhere on the invoice.

More about the return itself is in filing a VAT return as a freelancer. To check an invoice amount, use the invoice calculator.