Of all the subjects that come up in a first conversation, this is the one people dread most. Two years of earning, nothing declared, no VAT number, and by now so much built up that reaching out seems impossible.
It is almost always fixable. Not because it is nothing, but because the law has a route for this and that route is far less punitive than people fear. And because for creators the outcome is often better than expected, for a reason set out below.
Why waiting makes it more expensive
One thing structurally worsens the situation, and that is time. Concretely:
- Tax interest keeps running. Interest is charged on tax paid later than it should have been, and it ticks on every year.
- Coming forward weighs differently from being found. Someone who comes forward before the Belastingdienst has established anything stands considerably better in the assessment of any penalty than someone who gets a letter.
- Evidence disappears. Platforms limit historical exports, banks do not keep records forever, and an old email account gets lost. Without substantiation, putting things right becomes estimating, and estimates rarely land in your favour.
- An ex officio assessment lands high. File nothing and the Belastingdienst can impose an assessment itself, based on an estimate. Those estimates are generous, and then it is on you to show it was lower.
That last point is the heart of it. As long as you supply the figures, we work from your actual profit with all your deductions. If it is estimated for you, you start from a higher number and have to work backwards.
Why it often works out better for creators than expected
Two reasons, and both are specific to this work.
VAT is often in your favour. If you earn from foreign platforms you charge 0% on your turnover and have paid VAT on equipment, software and subscriptions. Across the open quarters there is then no amount to pay but a refund. See VAT on your platform income. People who filed no VAT returns for three years out of fear of a bill have in reality left three years of refunds unclaimed.
Your deductions were never taken. Someone who filed nothing also claimed no costs. For a creator with equipment, commission, software and services bought in, that makes a serious difference. Tax is calculated on your profit, not your turnover, and that profit is lower than the figure people assume.
That does not mean there is never anything to pay. It means the number keeping you awake is usually the turnover, and the bill is about the profit.
The steps
How we approach this, in this order:
- Take stock. Which years are open, and for which taxes? Income tax, VAT, and sometimes an ICP return. You hear roughly where you stand in the first conversation.
- Retrieve your position with the Belastingdienst. Are you registered at all, is there a VAT number, are there assessments or reminders already? That decides whether we are putting right or also still registering.
- Collect data. All platform statements, bank transactions and receipts that exist, per year. This is the phase where you have the most work, and where we help the most.
- Reconstruct. A profit calculation per year with the costs you actually had. Where evidence is missing we work with a substantiated approximation and record what it is based on.
- File. The missing returns, in the right order, with years that reconcile with each other.
- Arrange payment. If something turns out to be payable, a payment arrangement is possible. You apply for it, and it is a normal route.
Step 4 is where the craft is. A reconstruction that is properly substantiated, with explicit assumptions, is treated differently from an estimate with no story.
What you can do before talking to anyone
If you do one thing today, do this, because it is the part only you can do and it gets harder by the day:
- Download the full history still available from every platform. Now, not next month.
- Ask your bank for annual statements for every year you earned in, including private accounts that received payouts.
- Find the receipts for your big purchases: camera, laptop, lighting. Old mailboxes included.
- List which platforms you used and in which period.
That package decides how good the reconstruction can be. Everything you have is deduction that counts; everything missing is deduction you have lost.
What it can cost
We name no amounts here, because they depend entirely on your turnover, your costs and the years outstanding. What we can say about the make-up:
- The tax you should have paid on your actual profit
- Tax interest for the period the amount was outstanding
- Possibly a default penalty for filing late or not at all, in principle a fixed amount per default
- Where intent is established a higher penalty can come into view, and coming forward in time is exactly what reduces that risk
Against that sit the refunds and the deductions. For creators with a lot of equipment and foreign platform income we have seen files where the VAT refund over the open years absorbed a large part of the income tax assessment.
I never registered with the KVK
That often comes together with a filing backlog, and it is a step of its own. You register, and the start date is a detail that deserves attention: it should be the moment you actually began trading, not today.
It also means your details enter the trade register, and for creators working anonymously that is something to arrange beforehand rather than after. See KVK registration and your privacy.
A worked example of how this can land
A creator earns on a foreign platform for three years and declares nothing. Turnover of 14,000, 26,000 and 31,000 euro respectively. She is alarmed by the total of 71,000 euro and assumes an assessment will follow on that.
What actually happens when putting it right. Costs come off each year: platform commission, equipment and the depreciation on it, software, an editor, travel. Say a quarter of turnover on average. Profit across three years then comes to around 53,000 euro instead of 71,000. Entrepreneur allowances and the SME profit exemption then apply to that profit, to the extent she qualifies.
Against that, VAT was paid over those three years on all equipment and subscriptions, while 0% should have been charged on the turnover. That VAT is a refund. For a creator investing during the build-up phase, that runs into thousands of euro.
The net result is still an assessment, plus interest, plus possibly a default penalty. It is simply a fraction of the amount she was bracing for, and that difference sits entirely in the costs and the VAT nobody had collected. We name no final figure, because it depends completely on your own numbers, but the direction is consistent.
What to expect from us in this process
Concretely, so you know what you are starting:
- A half-hour first conversation in which you hear which years are open and what the route is. No obligations.
- A list of what we need from you, per year, so you are not guessing what is still missing.
- A reconstruction per year, with the assumptions recorded explicitly so they can be defended.
- Filing the missing returns, in the right order, with years that reconcile.
- Applying for a payment arrangement where needed.
What you do not get is a judgement on how it came to this. Among new clients this is more the rule than the exception, and it is why the first conversation always starts here.
Stopping it happening again
A backlog rarely arises from unwillingness. It arises because there is no moment at which someone looks at it. What solves that is not more discipline but a fixed rhythm: someone who asks before every deadline what is still missing, instead of you having to remember there is a deadline. That is exactly how how we work is set up.
Frequently asked questions
How far back can the Belastingdienst go?
Time limits apply to imposing an assessment, and they are longer for income from abroad than for Dutch income. For foreign platform income you should therefore reckon with a longer period than the five years people often have in mind.
Will I face criminal proceedings?
In the situations we see, people who did not know or let it slide, that is not the scenario. It is about putting right, interest and possibly a penalty. Someone who comes forward with a complete file stands considerably better.
Can I still claim deductions from old years?
Yes, and that is exactly why you hunt down those receipts. A corrective return includes your actual costs. See what can you deduct as a content creator.
I have already had a letter. Is it too late now?
No, but the situation differs from coming forward yourself. Respond to the letter rather than leaving it, because an unanswered letter leads to an ex officio assessment and that is higher than your actual figures.
Do I have to pay it all at once?
No. A payment arrangement is a normal route and is often granted in practice.
In closing
The hardest part of a backlog is the first conversation, not the fixing. For us this is daily work and among new clients it is more the rule than the exception. Nobody looks at how it came to this, only at what is needed to put it right.
We pick up outstanding years alongside your current bookkeeping, without one waiting on the other. See how we work.