Hiring a zzp software developer
What it takes to put a Dutch zzp'er on your project: an eenmanszaak registered at KVK 98261177, a BTW identification number, invoices with a payment term agreed in writing, and the reverse-charge rules that apply to subcontracted installation work but never to software.
This page is the administrative half of the answer. The technical half is on the other service pages. This one covers what a Dutch finance department needs to know before a purchase order can exist.
The company
- DD Techniek & IT, an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship): one person, no staff, no agency in between.
- KVK 98261177, registered in Rotterdam.
- BTW identification number NL005320826B84.
- Registered under SBI 62100 for software and SBI 43212 for electrical installation work.
The two registrations are a choice rather than an accident, and they matter on the invoice as well as on the site, because the BTW treatment follows the work that was performed and not the company that performed it. One thing to be clear about before the rest of this page: the software half is the half with a track record, and no commercial electrical installation work has been carried out. The electrical page says the same thing at more length.
BTW on the invoice
Software development is taxed at the general Dutch rate of 21 percent. There is no software heading on the reduced-rate list, so the general rate is what remains.
The reverse-charge scheme for subcontracting is a separate case and it does not apply to software. It applies to physical work on immovable property or on ships, in the construction, shipbuilding, cleaning and landscaping sectors. Where it applies, the invoice carries the words btw verlegd, states the customer's BTW identification number, shows the amount per rate, and shows no BTW: the main contractor accounts for it.
It does not cover everything in those sectors, and the sentence above is not the whole rule. It falls away when more than half of the work was done in my own workshop, when personnel are lent out for that same workshop work, and when the work is subordinate to a sale. Design work, security and rental sit outside the scheme altogether. Which case a line falls under is decided per invoice line rather than per company, so where it is not obvious your own boekhouder has the last word. Asking for a software invoice to be treated this way is a common request and the answer is no.
Invoicing and terms
- An hourly or fixed-price rate agreed in writing before the work starts.
- Invoices numbered sequentially and without gaps, each stating its payment term.
- A purchase order or contract reference carried onto the invoice where your finance system needs one.
- No recruiter and no intermediary margin between the rate you agree and the person doing the work.
How the engagement is arranged
The work is arranged as an assignment: a defined scope with an end, carried out with my own method and my own equipment, without an obligation to be at a particular desk at particular hours. These are the terms I work on. How a working relationship is finally characterised is for the Belastingdienst to decide and not something a website can settle, so if your organisation has a view on it, bring it to the first conversation.
Getting started
The first conversation is about what the system has to do and who has to be able to see what, not about the stack. A short written proposal follows: scope, what is out of scope, the rate, and what the first deliverable is. If it does not fit, that gets said in that proposal rather than three invoices later.
Common questions
- What are your KVK and BTW numbers?
- DD Techniek & IT is registered at KVK 98261177 in Rotterdam, with BTW identification number NL005320826B84. It is an eenmanszaak: one person, no staff, and no agency in between.
- Do you charge BTW?
- Yes. Software development falls under the general Dutch rate of 21 percent, because it is not on the reduced-rate list. The reverse-charge scheme is a separate case with exceptions of its own, and it applies only to subcontracted physical work on immovable property or ships in construction, shipbuilding, cleaning and landscaping.
- When does btw verlegd apply?
- Only when installation work is carried out as a subcontractor for a main contractor or an eigenbouwer, and not even then if more than half of the work was done in my own workshop or if the work is subordinate to a sale. Where it does apply, the invoice carries the words btw verlegd and the customer's BTW identification number and shows no BTW amount, because the main contractor accounts for it. It never applies to software work.
- How is the engagement arranged?
- It is arranged as an assignment with a defined scope and an end, carried out with my own method and my own equipment rather than at fixed hours in your office. Those are my terms; characterising a working relationship is for the Belastingdienst and not for a website.
- Do you work through an intermediary?
- Not by default. The agreement and the invoice come straight from DD Techniek & IT, so there is no recruiter margin between the rate you agree and the person doing the work. If your procurement runs through a broker, that can be arranged instead.