Dutch VAT number: btw-id vs omzetbelastingnummer

A Dutch business gets two VAT numbers from the Belastingdienst. The btw-id (format NL123456789B01) is your public VAT number for invoices, your website and clients; the omzetbelastingnummer (your BSN + B + 2 digits) is only for contact with the tax office and never belongs on an invoice. You can check any EU VAT number, including a Dutch btw-id, in VIES.

Two numbers, two jobs

Many freelancers in the Netherlands think they have one VAT number. In fact the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax office) gives you two, and they are not interchangeable. Both arrive in the letter you receive after registering with the KVK, and both are visible in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, the business portal you log into with DigiD or eHerkenning.

• btw-id (btw-identificatienummer, VAT identification number) - for the outside world: clients, suppliers, your invoices.
• omzetbelastingnummer (ob-nummer, VAT tax number) - for you and the Belastingdienst only: your btw-aangifte (VAT return), letters and phone calls.

The split matters because the omzetbelastingnummer contains your BSN, your personal citizen service number. The btw-id identifies your business without revealing it.

The btw-id: format and where to use it

The btw-id has a fixed format: NL + 9 digits + B + 2 digits. For example: NL123456789B01. It does not contain your BSN, so you can share it freely.

Use the btw-id:

• on every invoice and credit note you send - it is one of the factuureisen, the Dutch invoice requirements;
• on your website and in your email signature;
• whenever a client or supplier asks for your VAT number;
• when a business in another EU country needs it for a reverse-charge invoice or for its own administration.

If someone abroad asks for your "VAT number" or "VAT ID", this is the one they mean.

The omzetbelastingnummer: keep it private

The omzetbelastingnummer has the format BSN + B + 2 digits, without "NL" in front. Because your BSN is in it, you only use it with the Belastingdienst:

• in your quarterly btw-aangifte;
• in letters to and from the tax office;
• when you call the BelastingTelefoon about your VAT.

It never goes on invoices, quotes, websites or email signatures. A client has no use for it, and sharing it means sharing your BSN.

How to check a client's VAT number in VIES

VIES is the European system for checking VAT numbers of businesses across the EU. You enter the country and the number, and VIES tells you whether it is valid. You can check a Dutch btw-id there too.

When does checking matter? Mostly when you invoice a business in another EU country without Dutch VAT:

• B2B services to a business in another EU country - you write "btw verlegd" (reverse charge) on the invoice, add the client's VAT number and list the sale in your ICP-opgave, the EU sales listing.
• B2B deliveries of goods to another EU country - you charge 0%, add the client's VAT number and include the sale in the ICP-opgave.

In both cases the client's VAT number is the basis for leaving out Dutch VAT. A number that turns out to be invalid weakens that basis, so check it before the first invoice and keep a note of the result. In Dutch reverse-charge situations - subcontracting in construction, cleaning or shipbuilding - the invoice must also show the client's btw-id. The details are in the guide on reverse charge VAT in the Netherlands.

ProFaktura Pro checks the VAT number of an EU client in VIES when you create an intra-EU invoice, so you see a problem before the invoice goes out.

Common mistakes with Dutch VAT numbers

1. The omzetbelastingnummer on the invoice

The most common error. The invoice shows BSN + B + 2 digits instead of the btw-id. Your BSN is now on a document that travels through your client's administration, and a client who checks the number in VIES gets "invalid". Fix your template and send a correction if needed.

2. "NL" stuck in front of the omzetbelastingnummer

Adding "NL" does not turn the omzetbelastingnummer into a btw-id. They are different numbers. Copy the btw-id exactly from the letter or from Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk.

3. Reverse charge without the client's number

An invoice marked "btw verlegd" without the client's VAT number is incomplete. The number is a mandatory field for reverse charge, as is the text "btw verlegd" itself.

4. Never checking the client's number

A typo in a client's VAT number is easy to make and hard to spot later. Check new EU clients in VIES once, before the first invoice.

5. Waiting for a number you will not get

The letter usually arrives within 10 working days after your KVK registration. Still nothing after 10 working days? Call the BelastingTelefoon. Do not invent a number or leave the field empty on invoices - see starting as a zzp in the Netherlands for the full sequence from KVK to first invoice.

Your VAT number on a ProFaktura invoice

You enter your KVK number and btw-id once in your company profile. From then on, every invoice and credit note carries them automatically, together with everything else the factuureisen require: both parties' details, a gapless invoice number, the invoice date and delivery date, description, quantity, net amount, VAT per rate and the total. The omzetbelastingnummer has no field on the invoice at all - so it cannot end up there by accident.

Reverse charge, intra-EU invoices and the KOR (kleineondernemersregeling, the small business scheme that removes VAT from your invoices) are all part of the free plan. Want to see where each number sits on a real invoice? Look at the filled-in invoice example for the Netherlands, or read the full list of rules in how to invoice in the Netherlands.

Frequently asked questions

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Read next: invoice example · reverse charge VAT · start as a zzp · VAT return