How to File Your VAT Return as a Freelancer: A 6-Step Guide

Most freelancers file a quarterly VAT return: four times a year, you declare the VAT on the past three months. That's the default the Belastingdienst assigns the moment you register your business.

Two situations can change that:

• Annual return: if you pay less than €1,883 in VAT per year, the Belastingdienst may switch you to an annual return. This happens automatically — you don't need to apply for it yourself.
• Monthly return: if you consistently owe a large amount of VAT, or if the Belastingdienst specifically requests it, you can be moved to a monthly return.

For most freelancers sending a handful of invoices a month, it stays at four quarterly returns a year. Put the fixed deadlines in your calendar: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October, and 31 January, for the first through fourth quarters respectively. Want to keep your entire freelance administration in order, not just around the VAT deadline? Check out our admin checklist for freelancers.

Many new freelancers confuse their KVK number with their btw-id, but these are two different numbers with different purposes:

• Your KVK number is issued when you register in the Trade Register (Handelsregister) and is what you use with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK).
• Your btw-id (VAT identification number) is what you use towards clients: this number is legally required on every invoice you send.

Since 2020, every sole trader (eenmanszaak) has received a separate btw-id, disconnected from their personal citizen service number (BSN). Before that, a sole trader's VAT number was based directly on their BSN, which created a privacy risk once that number appeared on invoices or a website. The current btw-id no longer contains your BSN.

You can find your btw-id:

• in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk (the Tax Administration's online business portal), under your VAT details
• on the letter you received from the Belastingdienst when you registered for VAT
• on invoices you've sent previously

Note: alongside your btw-id, you also have an omzetbelastingnummer (VAT tax number), which you use when dealing with the Belastingdienst directly, for example when filing your return. That number ends in a B followed by a sequence number, and it is not the same number as the btw-id on your invoices.

For the quarter, gather all the invoices you've sent — not the payments you've received, since those can land in a different quarter than the one you invoiced in. For your VAT return, it's the invoices that count, not the amounts credited to your account.

Next, split your turnover by VAT rate:

• 21%: the standard rate, which applies to most services and products
• 9%: the reduced rate, for example for certain creative, cultural, or personal services
• 0%: applies to, among other things, services to businesses in other EU countries (VAT reverse-charged) or exports outside the EU

As a freelancer, you'll typically be working with just one or two rates, so this step usually goes quickly. Do you occasionally work for private clients in other EU countries, for instance because you sell products alongside services? Then the OSS scheme may apply once your annual EU turnover passes €10,000. If you also run a webshop selling through multiple channels, take a look at our separate VAT return guide for webshops.

Input VAT is the VAT you've paid yourself on business expenses. You're allowed to deduct that VAT from the amount you owe. For a freelancer, this usually covers:

• software subscriptions, such as accounting software, design tools, or project management tools
• a laptop, phone, or other business equipment
• office supplies and possibly a portion of your workspace costs
• travel expenses and business lunches or entertainment costs
• courses and trade publications related to your work

The condition is always the same: you need a valid invoice with a VAT breakdown, made out to your business. A receipt without a VAT breakdown, or one made out to you personally, doesn't count. If you use something partly for private purposes, such as your phone, you can only deduct the business share of the VAT.

Keep your receipts and invoices throughout the quarter, rather than hunting for them only once you sit down to file. A missing receipt is a missed deduction.

Once you have your turnover per rate and your input VAT, you file the return yourself. slimzaak prepares the figures, but submitting the return is always something you do directly with the Belastingdienst — or have your accountant do it for you.

Here's how it works:

1. Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk using DigiD or eHerkenning.
2. Enter your turnover and the VAT owed per rate, and fill in your input VAT in the section provided for it.
3. Check the final balance: amount due, or amount to be refunded.
4. Submit the return digitally.
5. Pay the amount owed using the correct payment reference, or wait for a refund if your balance is negative.

The deadline for both filing and payment is the last day of the month following the end of the quarter. For the second quarter, that means 31 July at the latest. Filing or paying late can result in a fine, even if you don't owe anything on balance — so lock the four fixed dates into your calendar.

Most of the time lost on a VAT return isn't spent filling in the form — it's spent tracking down the numbers: which invoices fell in this quarter, which rate applied, which receipts you're allowed to deduct. Most of that work can be automated.

slimzaak automatically applies Dutch VAT rules to every invoice you send, so every invoice is VAT-compliant and carries the right rate from the start. You scan receipts and purchase invoices with AI, and the VAT is recognized and processed automatically. At the end of the quarter, you get a ready-made overview of your turnover and input VAT per rate, which you simply copy into Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk. If you also sell to clients in other EU countries, slimzaak also supports the OSS scheme.

What slimzaak doesn't do: submit the return itself to the Belastingdienst. That's always your action, or your accountant's — slimzaak just makes sure your figures are ready the moment you log in.

Are you a freelancer and want to see for yourself how much time this saves? Take a look at slimzaak for freelancers, try automatic, VAT-compliant invoicing, or check our pricing directly — the Free ZZP plan is €0 a month, up to 250 invoices a month, no credit card required.