Invoicing foreign clients from the Netherlands (2026): VAT, wording and which box

For a business client in another EU country you charge no Dutch VAT: the invoice says the VAT is reverse charged, carries both VAT numbers, goes in box 3b of your VAT (BTW) return and on the ICP listing. For a client outside the EU, such as the US or the UK, you usually charge no Dutch VAT either, and the invoice stays off the return; for a private person in another EU country you charge Dutch VAT as if they lived here.

Your client	Dutch VAT on the invoice	Wording on the invoice	BTW return	ICP
Business in the Netherlands	21%, 9% or 0%	–	1a, 1b or 1e	–
Business in another EU country (services)	none, reverse charge	VAT reverse charged to customer — Art. 196 EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC	3b	yes
Business in another EU country (goods)	0%	Intra-Community supply of goods — 0% VAT (Art. 138)	3b	yes
Private person in another EU country	Dutch rate (21% or 9%)	–	1a or 1b	–
Business or person outside the EU (services)	none	No Dutch VAT — place of supply outside the EU (Art. 6 / 6i Wet OB)	not on the return	–
Outside the EU (goods)	0%	Export of goods outside the EU — 0% VAT (Art. 146)	3a	–

This is how Netto, the bookkeeping app for freelancers in the Netherlands (netto.so), applies the rules. The sections below explain each row, with a worked quarter.

Worked example: one quarter with clients in four countries

Sanne is a freelance designer in Utrecht with an eenmanszaak, not in the KOR. In the fourth quarter of 2026 she sends five invoices:

Client	Invoice	Dutch VAT	Where it goes
Agency in Amsterdam	€2,000	21%: €420	box 1a
Private client in Antwerp (Belgium)	€500	21%: €105	box 1a
GmbH in Berlin (Germany), VAT number checked in VIES	€3,000	none, reverse charge	box 3b and the ICP
Startup in New York (US), invoiced in dollars	$2,400	none	not on the return
Ltd in London (UK), invoiced in pounds	£1,500	none	not on the return

Her return for the quarter, due by 31 January 2027 (the last day of the month after the quarter):

• 1a: turnover €2,500, VAT €525
• 3b: €3,000
• 5a (VAT owed): €525, before she subtracts the VAT she paid on her own costs in 5b
• ICP: one line, for the German client's VAT number: €3,000 in services

The dollar and pound invoices are booked in euros at the exchange rate of the invoice date. If the ECB rate that day were $1 = €0.90, the US invoice would be €2,160 of turnover in her books. It still appears nowhere on the BTW return: services to clients outside the EU are not reported on it at all. They do count as turnover for income tax.

EU business clients: reverse charge (btw verlegd)

When you provide a service to a business in another EU country, the VAT is due in the client's country and the client accounts for it. That is the reverse charge, btw verlegd in Dutch. You invoice the net amount and charge no VAT.

Three things have to be true:

1. The client is a business, not a private person.
2. The client has a valid VAT number in its own country.
3. The service follows the general rule: it is taxed where the business client is. This covers most freelance work (design, development, writing, consulting). Services tied to a building or land, events you attend in person, and passenger transport have their own rules.

Check the VAT number in VIES

Check the client's VAT number in the European Commission's VIES before the first invoice, and keep the result. If the number turns out to be invalid, the Belastingdienst can treat the sale as a domestic one and ask you for Dutch VAT on it.

What the reverse-charge invoice must show

Next to everything a normal Dutch invoice needs (your name, address, KVK number, a sequential number, the date and the lines):

• your VAT ID (btw-id, not your VAT tax number)
• the client's VAT number
• no VAT amount, or VAT at 0%
• a line saying the VAT is reverse charged, for example VAT reverse charged to customer — Art. 196 EU VAT Directive 2006/112/EC. "Btw verlegd" is accepted too.

Box 3b and the ICP listing

The net amount goes in box 3b of your return. Separately, you file the ICP listing (opgaaf intracommunautaire prestaties) in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk for the same quarter: one line per EU business client, with its VAT number and the amount, in whole euros. The other country uses it to check that your client declared the VAT. Box 3b and the ICP total should match. More on the ICP in the glossary.

Under the KOR: reverse charge and the ICP still apply. The KOR only stops you charging Dutch VAT on Dutch sales; see the KOR guide.

EU consumers: Dutch VAT

A private person in Belgium, Germany or Spain who hires you pays Dutch VAT, at the rate you would charge a Dutch consumer, and the sale goes in box 1a or 1b. No VAT number, no reverse charge, no ICP.

The exception: e-services. Digital services delivered automatically (downloads, software subscriptions, online courses without live teaching) sold to consumers in other EU countries are taxed in the consumer's country, usually through the One Stop Shop (OSS). Netto doesn't handle OSS yet; if that is your business, talk to an adviser.

Clients outside the EU: the US, the UK, Switzerland and beyond

For a service to a client outside the EU, the place of supply is usually outside the EU, so you charge no Dutch VAT. Since Brexit that includes the UK.

• The invoice says No Dutch VAT — place of supply outside the EU (Art. 6 / 6i Wet OB).
• There is no VAT number to check and no ICP.
• Services stay off the BTW return. Goods you export go in box 3a, with Export of goods outside the EU — 0% VAT (Art. 146) on the invoice, and you keep the customs proof of export.
• A service to a private person outside the EU that you perform in the Netherlands can be taxed here. If that is your case, check it with the Belastingdienst.
• US clients often ask for a W-8BEN. That is a US form about US withholding tax, not about Dutch VAT. It doesn't change your invoice.

Invoicing in dollars, pounds or another currency

You may invoice in any currency. Two rules make it work in your books:

1. Show the VAT in euros if there is any VAT on the invoice. On a reverse-charge or non-EU invoice there is none, so an all-dollar invoice is fine.
2. Book the invoice in euros at the exchange rate of the invoice date. When the money arrives later at a different rate, the difference is an exchange result (koersverschil), a gain or loss in your profit, not a VAT matter.

Netto uses the ECB reference rate of each document's date and books the exchange difference when the payment comes in.

Buying from abroad: the other side

The same rule works backwards when a foreign supplier sends you an invoice without VAT, as Adobe, Google or a freelancer in Spain often do. You declare the Dutch VAT yourself: box 4b for EU suppliers, 4a for suppliers outside the EU, and reclaim it in 5b in the same return. For most freelancers the two cancel out.

Example: a $20 Twilio invoice from Ireland, paid on 16 October 2026 and worth €17.77 at the ECB rate, goes in box 4b with €3.73 VAT, and the same €3.73 is reclaimed in 5b.

Common mistakes

• Charging 21% to an EU business "to be safe". The client can't reclaim Dutch VAT in its own return, and you have filed it wrongly.
• Forgetting the ICP after a correct reverse-charge invoice.
• Treating an EU consumer as a business because they paid from a company-sounding account. The VAT number is the test.
• Putting a US or UK service in box 3b. That box is for EU clients only.
• Booking a dollar invoice at the rate of the payment day instead of the invoice date.

In Netto

You set the client's country and whether it is a business once, on the contact. Netto checks an EU VAT number in VIES when you save it, then picks the VAT treatment and the invoice wording above by itself. Invoices can be in any currency, at the ECB rate of their date. Each quarter the VAT return shows every box, including 3b and the ICP lines, ready to copy into Mijn Belastingdienst. Direct filing with the Belastingdienst: coming soon.

General information for 2026, checked against the sources below. It is not tax advice: for a case that doesn't fit a row in the table, ask the Belastingdienst or an adviser.