A word everyone in the Netherlands uses, but not a legal form. What it does mean, and what comes with it.
In short
Zzp stands for zelfstandige zonder personeel, self-employed without staff: someone with their own business and no employees, who carries out assignments or sells products and sends clients an invoice. Zzp is not a legal form but a description of how you work, just like freelancer. Most zzp'ers register with the KvK as a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), some as a bv. With almost 1.8 million of them, zzp'ers are the largest group of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. As a zzp'er you file your own income tax return on your profit, file VAT returns and keep your own books. If in practice you work like an employee, for example under supervision doing the same work as your client's staff, you are falsely self-employed; since 1 January 2025 the Belastingdienst, the Dutch tax office, enforces this with the normal rules again.
The essentials
Meaning
Self-employed without staff: your own business, no employees, clients pay your invoice.
Legal form
Zzp is not a legal form. Usually a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak) at the KvK, sometimes a bv.
How many
Almost 1.8 million: the largest group of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands (KvK, January 2026).
Tax
Your own income tax return on your profit, VAT returns (usually quarterly) and your own Zvw contribution.
False self-employment
If you really work as an employee, the entrepreneur benefits fall away. Since 1 January 2025 the normal rules apply again; back-taxing as a rule goes no further back than 1 January 2025.
Self-employed or really employed? Three examples
The KvK lists these signs of working independently: you set your own working hours, you use your own tools, you decide how you do the work, and you do not manage your client's staff. The examples below are the KvK's own.
Self-employed or really employed? Three examples
A writer works from home, on his own laptop, writing texts for his clients' websites
Self-employed
A writer writes an article on a computer in the newsroom, under the editor-in-chief
Not self-employed: this looks like employment
A cook works in the kitchen of the same restaurant every week
Not self-employed: this looks like employment or agency work
If the Belastingdienst finds you falsely self-employed
For those assignments you lose the entrepreneur benefits such as the self-employed deduction and the SME profit exemption, and you can receive an additional assessment
What follows: whether you are a zzp'er depends on how you work, not on what your contract or the KvK register says. A different legal form, such as a bv, changes nothing. If in doubt, use the Dutch tax office's check "Wanneer is er sprake van loondienst?" together with your client.
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Zzp is not a legal form
A sole proprietorship, a general partnership and a bv are legal forms: you choose one when you register your business with the KvK. Zzp is not. It is short for zelfstandige zonder personeel, and like 'entrepreneur' or 'freelancer' it describes how you work. Zzp'er and freelancer mean the same; in construction people say zzp'er, in journalism freelancer.
Most zzp'ers start a sole proprietorship: one owner, who is also personally liable for the business's debts. A bv is possible too, but that is a different tax world, with corporate income tax and a salary for yourself. How to register, get your VAT ID and what it costs is in the guide to starting a sole proprietorship.
What you arrange yourself as a zzp'er
As a zzp'er you are an entrepreneur, which means nobody withholds tax for you. You file your own income tax return on your profit, you file VAT returns on what you invoice (quarterly for most zzp'ers) and you pay the Zvw contribution for the Health Insurance Act yourself. You keep your records for seven years.
What employees get through their employer, you arrange yourself or go without: insurance against incapacity for work, liability or legal costs, and your pension. In return, as an entrepreneur you get benefits an employee does not have, such as the self-employed deduction if you work at least 1,225 hours a year on your business.
False self-employment: when you are not a zzp'er
You can register with the KvK and send invoices, and still be an employee in the eyes of the Belastingdienst. That is called false self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid). Whether it applies depends on how you work: do you set your own hours and decide how you do the work, do you use your own tools, and do you avoid doing work that your client's staff also do under supervision?
Until 2025 the Dutch tax office mostly did not correct false self-employment retroactively. Since 1 January 2025 the normal rules apply again: if false self-employment is established, the client can directly receive an additional assessment for payroll taxes, and you have no right to the entrepreneur benefits for those assignments.
What the software handles for you
No bookkeeping software decides whether you work independently; you and your client do. What booxx does is the bookkeeping that comes with being a zzp'er: invoices with all the required details, receipts and bank transactions, the quarterly VAT return with the amount per box, and an estimate of the income tax and Zvw you should set aside.
The whole application is translated into English, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian and Romanian, while the bookkeeping underneath follows Dutch rules. You can try it for 90 days without a payment method.
Updated October 2, 2026. General explanation of the Dutch rules, not tax advice — for your own situation, decide together with your accountant or the Dutch Tax Administration.
Frequently asked questions
What does zzp mean?
Zzp stands for zelfstandige zonder personeel, self-employed without staff: someone with their own business and no employees, who carries out assignments or sells products and invoices clients. Zzp'er and freelancer mean the same.
Is zzp a legal form?
No. Zzp describes how you work. At the KvK you register with a legal form; most zzp'ers choose a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), some a bv.
What tax does a zzp'er pay?
Income tax on your profit, through your own return; VAT on what you invoice, through the VAT return, quarterly for most zzp'ers; and the Zvw contribution. Nobody withholds it for you, so you set it aside yourself.
What is false self-employment?
You work as a zzp'er but in practice do not meet the signs of working independently, for example because you do the same work as your client's staff under supervision. Then you have no right to the entrepreneur benefits and an additional assessment can follow. Since 1 January 2025 the Belastingdienst enforces this with the normal rules again.
Create a set of books, send your first invoice and see whether it works for you. The first 90 days are free and no payment method is asked for, so there is nothing to cancel later.