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Prepare your business for Dutch company law
Starting a business in the Netherlands can be difficult because you will have to deal with potential customers, suppliers or staff which operate in a legal system that you are not familiar with. Similarly, it might be difficult for you to structure your business, because you are not familiar with Dutch company law.
INCO is specialized in assisting global entrepreneurs with their legal affairs, from selecting the right corporate structure, drafting a formation deed, to dealing with labour and immigration laws. In case your business activity is regulated, INCO can assist you to apply for a Business License.
When starting a Dutch business, you might be required to apply for a Business Travel Visa, or you might be interested to relocate permanently to the Netherlands. INCO has experience with relocation residency permits, startup visa’s, European Blue card, and other options to obtain residency in the Netherlands.
In case you are appointed as a board member in a Dutch company, it’s important to understand your personal responsibilities ánd liabilities. Being a Dutch board member, you might be liable for any debts or claims against the company. INCO can fully inform you on company law requirements, and have these can affect your position as a board member.
Planning to do a take-over in the Netherlands? No problem! INCO can assist you in performing the correct Due Diligence and can facilitate the take-over process.
In case you are entering the Dutch market with a strong brand, you might like to consider to protect your brand as a registered trademark!
INCO provides basic legal support as part of its ‘Company Officer Service’, to make sure that new companies are set for the first 12 months, without any hidden fees.
Why Dutch Legal Consulting pays off?!
Before you start your Netherlands company, it’s advised to have a good understanding of the Dutch company laws, and the responsibilities of the shareholders and board members.
Similarly, as an employer, it’s important to understand your (legal) responsibilities towards your staff and understand the consequences of employing staff in The Netherlands.
First, you should ask yourself; Why am I starting a business in The Netherlands in the first place? In order to employ staff? Or to open a warehouse? Or to apply for a VAT number and perform importing activities? Each situation is different and has different legal consequences.
Based on your market entry scenario, INCO can consult you on the legal consequences of performing such activity, and how such activity can be structured.
In case you are signing any kind of legal agreement, from an employment agreement to a rental agreement, it’s advised to get advice from an experienced Dutch lawyer. Dutch corporate lawyers will check if you are taking any unnecessary risks, or committing to a (longterm) hidden agreement.
In many cases, INCO can provide legal consulting services as part of our basic Company Officer Services. This means you get access to experienced Dutch lawyers without any hourly charges.
As a global entrepreneur, you should not underestimate the complexity of understanding a new legal system. Although the internet provides a lot of information, and online standard templates can be very convenient. When it comes to legal affairs, the devil lies in the details.
By appointing INCO as your legal partner, you avoid such scenarios, so you can focus on your business.
Application of services
As mentioned before, each company and (market entry) scenario is different and unique in its own way. This also applies to the legal requirements and considerations of each Dutch company.
You might be planning to expand your business, but you are not certain yet to establish a Dutch ‘branch’ or start a Dutch subsidiary. Or you might be planning to take over an existing company, or payroll staff. In case you are planning to get investors and co-shareholders on board, it’s important to have a clear investor- or shareholders agreements in place.
INCO has been involved with more than 5.000 entrepreneurs considering starting a company in the Netherlands, and we have actively assisted more than 600 of them.
This means we have a very good understanding of any legal requirement you might have, and chances are, we have done it before.
We have made an overview of typical legal requirements and described them in more detail in our Business Toolkit, so you can get more familiar with these subjects.
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Start Trading: Use General Terms and Conditions!
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Drafting a shareholders agreement
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Getting Authorised: Provide (or sign) a Power of Attorney in the Netherlands
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Getting Appointed: Personal liabilities of a ‘Dutch’ board member
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Considerations when appointing staff in Netherlands
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Legal considerations when renting real estate
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Risk management; Protecting your brand
Examples of products
Before starting a business in The Netherlands, it is advised to obtain a Legal Memorandum about your situation. Even if our Incorporation Officer has done a great job in providing you with all the information that you require.
But it’s very important to involve a legal expert to have a look at your situation, and consider that there is a lot of information that can easily be missed when the focus is on the end goal: Setting up a company ASAP!
In order to inform entrepreneurs as careful as possible, INCO has published numerous articles in our Business Toolkit, and even White Papers on a variety of subjects, such as:
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Dutch tax system
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Consequences of a non-resident board of Directors
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Salary requirements in the Netherlands
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Business License requirements
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The requirement of a VAT number
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Accounting Requirements
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How to open a bank account
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and many more…
The typical legal services that INCO has to offer in The Netherlands are:
Drafting, or checking of;
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General Terms and Conditions
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Business/Trading Agreements
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Rental Agreement
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Purchase Agreement (real estate)
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Rental Agreement
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Purchase Agreement ( shares)
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Shareholders Agreement
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Brand/Trademark Registration
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Debt Collection
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Apply for Business Licenses
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Apply for ANBI Status
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GDPR Policy and Agreements
What you should consider
Using legal services is typically considered expensive, but it’s really not! The question you should ask, if you can really afford not to invest in professional legal support.
Using online templates, or online legal information can be quite tricky because each situation is unique. A Dutch lawyer can provide you with valuable input that potentially saves you a lot of money (for example, in the case of claims).
To make life (or business in this case) even easier, INCO provides basic legal consulting services as part of its basic Company Officer services. This means you can contact your Company Officer to discuss any of the topics mentioned on this page.
Should your request be too complicated, and not fit within the standard service, our legal team will provide you a fixed fee for our services in advance. This way you never have to deal with any unexpected fees afterwards.
The best piece of (free) advice that we can give you, is to give a call (or schedule a call, so we can call you!) to our Legal Consultants to discuss your situation and requirements.
More information about legal Consulting
In this guide we have tried to give an overview of our approach and services for Legal Consulting in the Netherlands and its importance for you business. Of course, each situation and business requires a personal approach. We would therefore want to advice you to book a call with one of our Legal Experts, so we can discuss your situation in person!
from our business toolkit
YOUR BUSINESS TOOLKIT
FREE ACCESS TO ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Our experts have combined their knowledge and strengths to create a tool we call the Business Toolkit.
The Business Toolkit will help you and entrepreneurs from around the globe to truly understand the Dutch market, regulations and laws. And will enable you to take a deep-dive into the topics displayed below.
This way you will easily get up to speed with our Company formation process, Dutch Tax & Accounting and our corporate services.
Make sure to check out our handy checklists, explainer video's and extensively written Whitepapers too!
YOUR BUSINESS TOOLKIT
FREE ACCESS TO ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
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