As an entrepreneur, you pay tax on the profit you make. Depending on the legal form of your company, this is income tax or corporate tax. In this article you can read everything about corporate tax (corporate tax). How do you report? When will you encounter it, what are the rates and what should you pay attention to?
Who pays corporate tax?
Do you operate in a private limited company (BV), a public limited company (NV) or a cooperative? Then this legal entity must file a corporate tax return. Corporate tax is a direct tax on profits of a legal entity. Other legal entities, such as a foundation or association, only pay in certain cases Corporation tax. In this article we assume that the BV
File a corporate tax return
Your accountant, bookkeeper or tax advisor usually prepares the corporate tax return for you. The declaration is made via the Tax Authorities website. You only have to check this declaration yourself before it is finally submitted.
When you check your tax return, it is useful to understand how corporate tax* works.
Provisional assessment
Does your company have to file a corporate tax return? You will then receive a provisional one at the beginning of the year (VA) of the Tax Authorities. This VA contains an amount. This amount is a provisional calculation based on previous years. You must check this carefully yourself and change it if necessary. A VA can be increased a maximum of three times a year. You can also object to a VA. Ultimately, there is always a final assessment.
Do you expect to have to pay corporate tax and will you not automatically receive a VA? Then contact the Tax Authorities and request a VA.
Tax for the financial year
You calculate corporate tax on the profit of your company’s financial year. The financial year can be equal to a calendar year, but that is not necessary. The duration of the financial year is stated in the articles of association. A corporate tax return on a you do this before June 1 of the following year. Does the financial year not coincide with a calendar year? Then you file a tax return within five months after the end of the financial year. Is it not possible to file a tax return on time? Then ask for it .
What do you pay corporate tax on?
You pay corporate tax on the taxable profit of the legal entity. This is the profit that remains after deduction of offsettable losses.
You calculate the taxable profit of your company as follows: you deduct the purchasing value and operating costs from the turnover. Operating costs include payroll costs and depreciation. What remains is your gross profit. The next question is whether there are deductions or offsettable losses that reduce this gross profit. After any deduction, the taxable profit remains. See the calculation example.
Do you have any losses? Then you can . The profit you ultimately retain is called the ‘taxable profit’. You pay corporate tax on this. Corporate tax is a fixed percentage of taxable profit. Usually an accountant or tax advisor calculates the profit for a private company.
Using deductions and schemes
You can use schemes to determine the profit. For example the or the exemption for .
For Broadly the same rules apply to business assets as to income tax. The exception is depreciation . For corporate tax purposes, the WOZ value of the property is the floor value. This means that for corporate tax purposes you may depreciate the property up to the WOZ value of the property.
There are also tax regulations that apply specifically to corporate tax, such as the and the tax . First check whether you meet the satisfies. Only then can you use them and can they provide benefits.
Consult with your accountant, bookkeeper or tax advisor so that you use deductions as best as possible.
Corporate tax rates 2023
The corporate tax rate depends on your profit. In 2023, you will pay 19% tax on profits up to and including 200,000 euros. For profits above 200,000 euros you pay 25.8% tax. The rates and amounts may differ per year. Therefore, check carefully what the rate is for the year for which you are filing a corporate tax return.
Corporate tax calculation example
Below is an example of how to calculate corporate tax.
| Revenue | 500,000 euros |
| Purchasing value | -/- 100,000 euros |
| Other costs | -/- 200,000 euros |
| Gross profit | 200,000 euros |
| Deductions | no |
| Deductible losses from 2022 | -/- 100,000 euros |
| Taxable profit | 100,000 euros |
| Corporate tax rate 2023 | 19% |
| Corporate tax payable | 19,000 euros |