VAT number and VAT identification number
If you register as a business owner with the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst), you usually receive a VAT number automatically. If you have a one-man business, you receive the VAT number when you register with the Chamber of Commerce. You use the VAT identification number for business abroad. In the Netherlands this identification number consists of 14 characters: your VAT number preceded by the country code ‘NL’ and followed by a three-character code. You must always indicate the VAT number or VAT identification number on your invoices.
Verification
If you have any doubts about whether your customer is registered as a turnover taxpayer in an EU country, you can have your customer’s VAT identification number verified by the Tax and Customs Administration. This verification can be arranged both by telephone and in writing. The Tax and Customs Administration will then issue a statement as to whether the combination of the name and the VAT number that you submitted is correct. Prior to this verification by the Tax and Customs Administration you can use the European Commission’s VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) to check whether a VAT number really exists.
You can also contact the Tax and Customs Administration in writing or by telephone to have a Dutch customer’s VAT number verified.
Sources
- VAT Information Exchange System - VAT number validation (European Commission)
- VAT in the Netherlands (Dutch Tax Administration)
- Downloading and ordering: Application for a registration number for foreign enterprises (Dutch Tax Administration)
- Contact (Tax Administration)