Payment term and statutory interest

Are you entering into a contract with a company, government or consumer? Then this often implies a specific payment period. This period may not be unreasonable. The payment period is usually detailed in the general conditions of the contract.

Legal payment periods

Payment periods for contracts between companies and for contracts between companies and governments are governed by law.

Business-to-business (B2B)

• If you do not stipulate otherwise in the contract, the invoice must be paid within 30 days of the invoice being received.
• You may set a longer payment period of up to 60 days in the contract.
• A payment period of over 60 days is only permitted if it can be demonstrated that this is not detrimental to either party.

Companies and governments

The invoice must be paid within 30 days of the invoice being received. You are not at will to deviate from this payment period.

Which conditions are applied by central government?

Central government uses the General Government Conditions (Algemene Rijksvoorwaarden) in order to allocate assignments to provide services (ARVODI-2011) and General Government Purchasing Conditions (ARIV-2008). This incorporates a payment period of up to 30 days after receipt and approval of the invoice. There is also usually a payment period of 30 days after delivery to a business.

What is statutory interest?

If the customer exceeds the payment period, the supplier may calculate interest on the outstanding amount. If a payment period has not been agreed, a period of 30 days may pass before any interest may be calculated and charged. If this involves delivery to a business or government, the legal rent for trade transactions will apply. If it concerns deliveries to consumers, the legal interest for non-trade transactions applies. The percentages can be found on the Dutch Bank’s website.