Are you a partner in a vof (a Dutch general partnership) or do you have shares in a bv (a Dutch private limited company)? Then, from mid-2022, a new legal obligation will apply: you must indicate who the ultimate owners are in the company, the UBO. That stands for ‘Ultimate Beneficial Owners’.
Both for companies that are a legal person, such as a bv, and for companies that are not, such as a vof, the government wants to gain a better insight into the natural persons behind those companies. Partners in a vof and shareholders in a bv can in turn be other legal entities, which means that a maze of owners and stakeholders can exist. Ultimately, there are natural persons who pull the strings and the government wants to know who they are.
In order to find out who the UBO in companies are, each general partnership and each bv must indicate which persons are hidden under those companies. They must identify themselves digitally and demonstrate that they are natural persons. The Chamber of Commerce has set up a special corner on their site for this purpose, where you can indicate who the UBO of your company are. Go to kvk.nl/ubo for the procedure. Please note: you are asked to upload documents, such as a copy of your passport and a statement of shareholding. Make sure you have these ready, because once you have entered registration you cannot save anything.
By the way
If you have an eenmanszaak (a Dutch sole proprietorship), you don’t have to do anything. An eenmanszaak is by definition a business of one natural person.