Economy Profile of Netherlands
Ease of Doing Business in Netherlands
Rankings on Doing Business topics – Netherlands
Topic Scores
Starting a Business
This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in each economy’s largest business city.
To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Procedures to legally start and formally operate a company (number)
-
Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation, notarization)
-
Registration in the economy’s largest business city
-
Postregistration (for example, social security registration, company seal)
-
Obtaining approval from spouse to start a business or to leave the home to register the company
-
Obtaining any gender specific document for company registration and operation or national identification card
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
-
Does not include time spent gathering information
-
Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 procedures cannot start on the same day)
-
Procedures fully completed online are recorded as ½ day
-
Procedure is considered completed once final document is received
-
No prior contact with officials
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita)
-
Official costs only, no bribes
-
No professional fees unless services required by law or commonly used in practice
Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita)
-
Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration or up to 3 months after incorporation
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay no bribes.
The business:
-Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type of limited liability company in the economy, the limited liability form most common among domestic firms is chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical office.
-Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-Performs general industrial or commercial activities such as the production or sale to the public of goods or services. The business does not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It is not using heavily polluting production processes.
-Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits.
-Is 100% domestically owned.
-Has five business owners, none of whom is a legal entity. One business owner holds 30% of the company shares, two owners have 20% of shares each, and two owners have 15% of shares each.
-Is managed by one local director.
-Has between 10 and 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of them domestic nationals.
-Has start-up capital of 10 times income per capita.
-Has an estimated turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.
-Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate.
-Has an annual lease for the office space equivalent to one income per capita.
-Is in an office space of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
-Has a company deed that is 10 pages long.
The owners:
-Have reached the legal age of majority and are capable of making decisions as an adult. If there is no legal age of majority, they are assumed to be 30 years old.
-Are in good health and have no criminal record.
-Are married, the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities.
-Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the majority of the population.
Starting a Business – Netherlands
Figure – Starting a Business in Netherlands – Score
Figure – Starting a Business in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Starting a Business Score
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Figure – Starting a Business in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (https://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below.
Details – Starting a Business in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
1 Check the company name for appropriateness and validity
Agency : Chamber of Commerce
As of July 2011, the Chamber of Commerce no longer carries out trade names searches. However, parties themselves can carry out a check on trade names online on the Chamber of Commerce website for free.
Less than one day
(online procedure)
no charge
2 Draft and sign the company’s deed of incorporation that is executed by a civil law notary
Agency : Civil Notary
Notary rates are negotiable and can be billed on the basis of an hourly rate, or a fixed fee. This varies between notaries. The deed can be signed in presence of the notary or by way of a written (private) power of attorney.
1 day EUR 1,750
Register the company at the local Chamber of Commerce and obtain the VAT registration number
Agency : Chamber of Commerce
The registration at the Chamber of Commerce can be done online or in person. If it is done online, it takes several hours to receive the registration number, and if the documents are filed in person, it takes 1 to 5 working days. Registration at the local Chamber of Commerce is mandatory. There is a registration fee of EUR 50. The payment of the fee can be done in cash, wire transfer and bank draft. Usually an invoice arrives by mail from the Chamber, and the preferred method of payment is by wire transfer.
The registration process can be completed online if it is done through a notary; however, for registration applications completed through the Chamber of Commerce, the business owner will submit the required documents online and then physically go to the Chamber of Commerce in person for identification purposes.
The VAT registration can be done together with the company registration at the Chamber of Commerce, who will deliver the registered company information to the Tax Authority and they will provide the VAT identification number immediately. For the income tax payment, the Chamber will send the information to the Tax Authority who will analyses if the entrepreneur will need to do the annual declaration for the income tax.
After incorporation of the company, the founders of the company are jointly and severally liable for each legal act performed during their management and which binds the company in the period between execution of the deed of incorporation and the registration at the Chamber of Commerce has been affected. Publication in the Netherlands Official Gazette (Staatscourant) of the first registration and certain subsequent registrations is required and will be made by the Chamber.
The government is in the process of implementing a UBO-register; a register containing the details of the individuals that are the ‘ultimate beneficial owners’ of legal entities in the Netherlands.
1 day EUR 50
4 Register the employer with the local tax authorities and social security authorities
Agency : Local Tax Authority
The employer registration has to be done directly at the Tax Authority in order to hire employees. It has to be done by the company itself. There is available an online PDF-form that need to be sent back by mail to the Tax Authority.
1 day no charge
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
Dealing with Construction Permits
This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information
What the indicators measure
Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number)
-
Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates
-
Submitting all required notifications and receiving all necessary inspections
-
Obtaining utility connections for water and sewerage
-
Registering and selling the warehouse after its completion
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
-
Does not include time spent gathering information
-
Each procedure starts on a separate day—though procedures that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
-
Procedure is considered completed once final document is received
-
No prior contact with officials
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita)
-
Official costs only, no bribes
Building quality control index (0-15)
-
Quality of building regulations (0-2)
-
Quality control before construction (0-1)
-
Quality control during construction (0-3)
-
Quality control after construction (0-3)
-
Liability and insurance regimes (0-2)
-
Professional certifications (0-4)
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used.
The construction company (BuildCo):
-
Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed experts, such as geological or topographical experts.
-
Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion.
The warehouse:
-
Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery.
-
Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita.
-
Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures.
-
Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory requirements).
The water and sewerage connections:
-
Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built.
-
Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average wastewater flow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day.
-
Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection.
Dealing with Construction Permits – Netherlands
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands – Score
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Dealing with Construction Permits Score
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (https://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below.
Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
1 Obtain report on the soil conditions from soil researching company
Agency : Soil Researching Company
The soil on which a building is to be constructed should not be contaminated. If a soil report is not available, soil testing must be conducted. The soil testing should be performed before requesting a building permit.
2 Hold a consultation with the municipal authorities
Agency : Municipality
An appointment request is made online to meet with one of the building inspectors. The consultation is free of charge. While this appointment is not mandatory, it is advisable to check that all the requirements for the permit are met. They will also check whether the zoning plan allows for the construction of a warehouse in the proposed location.
3 Submit a request for a building permit to the Municipal Executive (Mayor and Aldermen)
Agency : Municipal Executive (Mayor and Aldermen)
As of October 1, 2010 an online system www.eherkenning.nl/ was implemented which allows uploading of all documents to request a building permit, as well as following up on the request.
At the same time, several types of permits were combined into one General Environmental Law (Wet algemene bepalingen omgevingsrecht- Wabo). All different types of building permits (e.g., building permit, demolition permit, a permit to cut down trees, etc) are now combined into one environmental permit.
The Municipality has 8 weeks to decide on the permit and another 6 weeks to finalize the permit. If the building does not fit into the zoning scheme, the procedure to obtain the permit will take 26 weeks.
4 Notify Municipality if there is a heating installation
Agency : Municipality
The notification is pursuant to the municipal heating regulations (Verordening Stookinstallaties). The regulations establish technical and environmental rules with which the installation should comply.
Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Netherlands – Measure of Quality
Getting Electricity
This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Procedures to obtain an electricity connection (number)
-
Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary clearances and permits
-
Completing all required notifications and receiving all necessary inspections
-
Obtaining external installation works and possibly purchasing material for these works
-
Concluding any necessary supply contract and obtaining final supply
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
-
Is at least 1 calendar day
-
Each procedure starts on a separate day
-
Does not include time spent gathering information
-
Reflects the time spent in practice, with little follow-up and no prior contact with officials
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita)
-
Official costs only, no bribes
-
Value added tax excluded
The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8)
-
Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3)
-
Tools to monitor power outages (0–1)
-
Tools to restore power supply (0–1)
-
Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1)
-
Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1)
-
Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1)
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the warehouse, the electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used.
The warehouse:
-
Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods.
-
Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway.
-
Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time.
-
Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters (10,000 square feet).
The electricity connection:
-
Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140- kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW).
-
Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property because the warehouse has access to a road.
-
Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base.
The monthly consumption:
-
It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh.
-
If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier.
-
Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation purposes only 30 days are used.
Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)*
-
-
Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case study
Getting Electricity – Netherlands
City Covered
Amsterdam
Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 14.4
Indicator
Netherlands
OECD high income
Best Regulatory Performance
Procedures (number)
5
4.4
3 (28 Economies)
Cost (% of income per capita)
24.5
61.0
0.0 (3 Economies)
Time (days) 102 74.8 18 (3 Economies)
Figure – Getting Electricity in Netherlands – Score
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 8 7.4 8 (26 Economies)
66.7
99.7
100.0
Procedures
63.5
Time
Cost
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index
Figure – Getting Electricity in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Getting Electricity Score
0 100
92.0: France (Rank: 17)
90.2: Denmark (Rank: 21)
89.0: Finland (Rank: 24)
85.9: Regional Average (OECD high income)
82.5: Netherlands (Rank: 58)
70.6: Belgium (Rank: 108)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity.
Figure – Getting Electricity in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
100
Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita)
30
Cost (% of income per capita)
25
80
Time (days)
20
60
15
40
10
20 5
0 0
1 * 2 3 * 4 * 5
Procedures (number)
* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (https://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures
reflected here, see the summary below.
Figure – Getting Electricity in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
8
8
8
8
7.4
7
8.2
8
Index score
7.8
7.6
7.4
7.2
7
6.8
6.6
6.4
Netherlands Belgium Denmark Finland France OECD
high income
Details – Getting Electricity in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
1
Submit application to Liander and receive quote
Agency : Liander
The customer can apply for an electricity connection with the utility, Liander, online at www.aansluitingen.nl, in person, by phone, mail or fax.
The customer will need to attach the following documents to their application: location of building
to public road and the exact location of the building.
12 calendar days
EUR 0
The utility then prepares and calculate the connection fees.
No inspection of the entire internal wiring is carried out during the process, but the electrician/electrical contractor, in charge of the internal wiring, will need to submit a notification to Liander stating the installation has been carried out according to the regulations.
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
2 Obtain external inspection by Liander
Agency : Liander
3
Obtain external works from Liander’s contractor
Agency : Liander
Liander will sub-contract the works to a private firm. In this case, the works consist of laying out a cable from the warehouse to the closest supply source.
90 calendar days
EUR 11,100.75
A standard connection is a connection for a house or a small company with a length up to 25 meters. Connection fees are fixed and set by the ACM (Autoriteit Concument & Markt) and include the physical works for a connection up to 25 meters. Beyond the 25 meters additional costs apply, depending on the distance.
Liander distinguishes between 3 categories of connections: households and small businesses (loads of up to 3 x 80 Ampere); large businesses and small industrial (between 3 x 80 Ampere and 2 MVA); large industrial (over 2 MVA). The assumed case fits into the second category.
Before the electricity can be turned on, the client will need to show the relevant agency (Liander) a copy of the supply contract. Nowadays this is carried out by using electronic communication. This is done during the execution of the works and therefore gives no additional delay of the process.
If there are no maps for the area where the building is located and thus a site inspection is necessary, Liander will inspect the site to determine the specifics of the connection. The client does not need to be present during the inspection.
-
calendar day EUR 0
4 Sign contract with electricity supplier
Agency : Supplier
5
Obtain meter installation by meter company
Agency : Meter company
The customer must choose a meter company to install the meter for them.
7 calendar days
EUR 0
Before the electricity can be turned on, the client will need to show the relevant agency (Liander) a
copy of the supply contract, via electronic communication. This is done during the execution of the works (procedure 3) and therefore gives no additional delays to the process.
In the Netherlands, the electricity market is free. Liander is a distributor of electricity, but not a provider. Therefore, in order to obtain electricity, the client will need to choose and sign a contract with one of many suppliers.
7 calendar days EUR 0
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
Details – Getting Electricity in Netherlands – Measure of Quality
Answer
Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 8
System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.8
Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3
What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 0.1
System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.5
Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes
Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1
Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes
Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1
Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of supply? Yes
Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1
Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages exceed a certain cap? Yes
Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 1
Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1) 1
Are effective tariffs available online? Yes
Link to the website, if available online https://www.liander.nl/tarie
ven2018 or mijnliander.nl https://www.consuwijzer.nl
Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? Yes
/energie
Note:
If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.
If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index.
Registering Property
This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable property (number)
-
Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes)
-
Registration procedures in the economy's largest business city.
-
Postregistration procedures (for example, filling title with municipality)
Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days)
-
Does not include time spent gathering information
-
Each procedure starts on a separate day – though procedures that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule
-
Procedure is considered completed once final document is received
-
No prior contact with officials
Cost required to complete each procedure (% of property value)
-
Official costs only (such as administrative fees, duties and taxes).
-
Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit payments are excluded
Quality of land administration index (0-30)
-
Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8)
-
Transparency of information index (0–6)
-
Geographic coverage index (0–8)
-
Land dispute resolution index (0–8)
-
Equal access to property rights index (-2–0)
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used.
The parties (buyer and seller):
-
Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent).
-
Are located in the periurban (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its official limits) area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
Are 100% domestically and privately owned.
-
Perform general commercial activities.
The property (fully owned by the seller):
-
Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price.
-
Is fully owned by the seller.
-
Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years.
-
Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes.
-
Is located in a periurban commercial zone (that is, on the outskirts of the city but still within its official limits), and no rezoning is required.
-
Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 square feet). A two- story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety.
-
Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase.
-
Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of any kind.
-
Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required.
-
Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it.
Registering Property – Netherlands
Indicator
Netherlands
OECD high income
Best Regulatory Performance
Procedures (number)
5
4.7
1 (5 Economies)
Time (days)
2.5
23.6
1 (2 Economies)
Cost (% of property value)
6.1
4.2
0.0 (Saudi Arabia)
Quality of the land administration index (0-30)
28.5
23.2
None in 2018/19
Figure – Registering Property in Netherlands – Score
66.7
99.3
59.3
95.0
Procedures
Time
Cost
Quality of the land administration index
Figure – Registering Property in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Registering Property Score
0 100
89.9: Denmark (Rank: 11)
80.1: Netherlands (Rank: 30)
79.0: Finland (Rank: 34)
77.0: Regional Average (OECD high income)
63.3: France (Rank: 99)
51.8: Belgium (Rank: 139)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Figure – Registering Property in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
Time (days) Cost (% of property value)
2.5 7
Cost (% of property value)
6
2
5
Time (days)
1.5 4
1 3
2
0.5
1
0 0
1 * 2 3 4 5
Procedures (number)
* This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure.
Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (https://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below.
Figure – Registering Property in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
28.5
22.0
24.5
26.5
24.0
23.2
35
30
Index score
25
20
15
10
5
0
Netherlands Belgium Denmark Finland France OECD
high income
Details – Registering Property in Netherlands – Procedure, Time and Cost
1
Notary conducts a title search at the Land Registry
Agency : Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency
According to Dutch Civil Code it is mandatory to hire a civil law notary to perform the registration process of property in the Netherlands. The civil law notary will conduct a title search at the Land Registry to check for ownership and encumbrances before executing the deed. Art 84 Book 3 Civil Code states that for a legally valid transaction the seller should have the right to dispose, which is one of the major elements of a property right. For such transactions a notarial deed is compulsory ('authentic deed'); therefore, the notary checks whether the seller is indeed the owner. It is mandatory in the professional rules of the National Association of Notaries. Notaries can consult the land register by an on-line system, called the Automatic Cadastral Registration (AKR), but only regarding some aspects.
Less than one day,
online
The deeds and other registered documents from 1998 onward are online accessible. Since December 2009 all deeds are digitally available (first deeds 1832). Extracts from the cadastral map showing the relevant properties are also available online. To obtain all relevant information takes a few minutes. A notary can ask the Land Registry Office to find out the history and identifiers of a parcel. If a cadastral parcel has been changed (e.g. a parcel is divided into 2 new parcels), the parcel will be given a new, unique parcel number. The civil law notary then drafts the deed of transfer. Preemption rights ('Voorkeursrecht') only apply in exceptional cases, for properties located in the Municipalities Preferential Rights Act ('Wet voorkeursrecht gemeenten')
or for ground leases (as opposed to freehold).
EUR 2,260.4; (1. Title
search: (disbursements, charged by the Land Registry):
-
EUR 2.6 per registered title;
-
EUR 2.6 per cadastral map;
-
EUR 2.6 per cadastral extract (x2) (per cadastral parcel two extracts are required, one regarding the ownership and one regarding the mortgages and attachments – even if the property has no
mortgages).
2. Notarial fee (inter alia including the work mentioned above under procedures 1, 2 and 3):
EUR 1,250 – 4000
Final check: no cost)
No.
Procedures
Time to Complete
Associated Costs
-
-
Notary conducts a search on the representation of the parties
Agency : Trade Register ('Kamer van Koophandel' – www.kvk.nl)
For companies the notary must conduct an on-line research with the Trade Register with respect to specific information of the company (such as address, managing directors). From July 1, 2012 all notaries are obliged to check addresses in the Dutch national online address database 'Basisadministratie Adressen en Gebouwen (BAG)'. The central database was designed to prevent individuals from using fake addresses.
The articles of association cannot be checked on-line. The civil law notary can have these sent to him by mail or fax. It is to identify who is authorized to legally bind the company. This procedure is mandated by the Manual that was adopted in May 2009 by the Association of Notaries (internal rules). The May 2009 Manual explains how to apply the "August 2008 Law against Whitewashing and Financing of Terrorism" (referred to as the "WWFT" law). Article 11 of the law is related to identifying and verifying the identity of people. In Section B of the Annex (page 3), the text refers to "article 4, para 2 of the Executive Decree to the Law", which states that "to identify companies registered in the Netherlands, an extract from the trade registrar is a sufficient document."
The notary will also check the Insolvency Registry, which is a public register held by the courts, in which everybody (including companies) who has been declared bankrupt can be found. He checks both buyer and seller at the time of signing the deed and the registration with the Land Registry. This is not mandatory but necessary to know whether seller or buyer do not have the right to dispose and to bind, because of registration in the register. It is described in the professional rules of the National Association of Notaries.
This checking is done online at www.faillisementen.com. Only subscribers can access this site and the annual membership fees are 175 Euro. Online checking of insolvencies can be done as well on https://insolventies.rechtspraak.nl which is part of the website of the Dutch courts and checking this register is free of charge.
Less than one day, online
EUR 22.8; (Research of the buyer and purchaser charged by the Chamber of Commerce
-
Excerpts providing an overview of registered data of a company, such as name, address, date of incorporation and in most cases officials, & information about the legal person, company and location (s)
– EUR 15 (hard copy); EUR 7.50 (digitally certified extract) and EUR
2.30 (online review).
-
Company Profile to check the check the financial position: € 2.65)
-
-
Execution of the transfer deed
Agency : Civil law notary
The notarial deed of transfer must be drawn up by a notary and signed by the latter and both parties. Before signing, a notary is required to investigate the title to the property and the seller’s power to dispose of it in the public registers. The notary must provide for a transfer free of mortgages and attachments, this requires the cooperation of third parties and the retrieval of information other than that provided by the Land Registry. The authorized persons will either have to appear before the notary or must have granted power of attorney. After the deed has been registered with the Land Registry Office, a civil law notary must carry out the post registration check in order to detect any potential change between the execution and the registration of the deed. As the evidence of the registration is sent by internet, just after the electronic submission following execution of the transfer deed, this check can be done immediately.
Less than one day, online
EUR 136,096.29; (Transfer Tax: 6% of property value for non-residential; 2% for residential use)
-
Registration of deed
Agency : Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency
Every notary deed must be registered with the Land Registry ('ingeschreven'). This can be done through the internet (the notary does not need to go to the land registry or 'kadaster').
The registration fee of the Land Registry depends on the way the deed is submitted to the Land Registry: Land Registry EUR 150.- for regular registration (= sending paper version of deed by mail), EUR 126 for semi automatic registration (= sending pdf-file of deed by email) and EUR 77.- for fully automatic registration (= sending data file with essentials of transfer only).
Less than one day, online
EUR 77; (- EUR 126 for
regular registration; EUR 77 for fully automatic registration)
-
Registration with Tax authority, Department Registration
Agency : The Ministry of Finance, Tax authority, Department Registration (www.belastingdienst.nl) Registration with the Ministry of Finance, Tax Authority, Department Registration is done online: www.belastingdienst.nl This is the official register of the Department Registration. Each notarial deed has to be registered within 10 days with the Tax Authority who checks the deed for taxable aspects. The transfer tax is paid to the civil law notary, who will pay this tax to the Tax Authorities after registration. The transfer tax is 6% or 2% of the total purchase price or the market value, whichever is higher. Also, or instead of transfer tax, sometimes VAT is applicable. It is 21% regarding property. This depends, inter alia, on the status of the property and the fact if the seller is a VAT-entrepreneur. They do not keep a copy but give a statement that the deed involved is checked on a certain date. The deed itself is then returned with that statement to the civil law notary.
Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.
Less than one day, online
Already paid in Procedures 3
Details – Registering Property in Netherlands – Measure of Quality |
||
Answer |
Score |
|
Quality of the land administration index (0-30) |
28.5 |
|
Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) |
7.0 |
|
Type of land registration system in the economy: |
Title Registration System |
|
What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? |
Kadaster |
|
In what format are past and newly issued land records kept at the immovable property registry of the largest business city of the economy —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? |
Computer/Scanned |
1.0 |
Is there a comprehensive and functional electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, restrictions and the like)? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: |
Kadaster |
|
In what format are past and newly issued cadastral plans kept at the mapping agency of the largest business city of the economy—in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? |
Computer/Fully digital |
2.0 |
Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing cadastral information (geographic information system)? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases? |
Single database |
1.0 |
Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the same identification number for properties? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Transparency of information index (0–6) |
6.0 |
|
Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable property registration in the largest business city? |
Anyone who pays the official fee |
1.0 |
Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made publicly available– and if so, how? |
Yes, online |
0.5 |
Link for online access: |
||
Is the applicable fee schedule for any type of property transaction at the agency in charge of immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how? |
Yes, online |
0.5 |
Link for online access: |
https://www.kadaster. nl/documents/195349 8/2075653/Tarieven+ 2019.pdf/7803d76d- 2c1b-2771-6c7e- 2caec5f3ca54? t=1543847212342 |
|
Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration agency formally commit to deliver a legally binding document that proves property ownership within a specific timeframe –and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? |
Yes, online |
0.5 |
Link for online access: |
https://www.kadaster. nl/kwaliteitshandvest |
|
Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Contact information: |
https://www.kadaster. nl/klachten-en- bezwaren |
|
Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the immovable property registration agency? |
Yes |
0.5 |
Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2018: |
34908 (residential only) in 2018 |
|
Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? |
Anyone who pays the official fee |
0.5 |
Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available—and if so, how? |
Yes, online |
0.5 |
Link for online access: |
https://www.kadaster. |
|
nl/documents/195349 |
||
8/2075653/Tarieven+ |
||
2019.pdf/7803d76d- |
||
2c1b-2771-6c7e- |
||
2caec5f3ca54? |
||
t=1543847212342 |
||
Does the cadastral/mapping agency formally specifies the timeframe to deliver an updated cadastral plan—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? |
Yes, online |
0.5 |
Link for online access: |
https://www.kadaster. nl/-/voorlopige- kadastrale-grenzen |
|
Is there a specific and independent mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? |
Yes |
0.5 |
Contact information: |
https://www.kadaster. nl/klachten-en- bezwaren |
|
Geographic coverage index (0–8) |
8.0 |
|
Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the immovable property registry? |
Yes |
2.0 |
Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property registry? |
Yes |
2.0 |
Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? |
Yes |
2.0 |
Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? |
Yes |
2.0 |
Land dispute resolution index (0–8) |
7.5 |
|
Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable property registry to make them opposable to third parties? |
Yes |
1.5 |
Legal basis: |
Civil Code/Kadaster wet: article 3:89 and article 3:24 of Dutch Civil Code |
|
Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee? |
Yes |
0.5 |
Type of guarantee: |
State guarantee |
|
Legal basis: |
Civil Code/Kadaster wet: article 3:89 and article 3:24 of Dutch Civil Code |
|
Is there a is a specific, out-of-court compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable property registry? |
Yes |
0.5 |
Legal basis: |
Article 117 Land Registry Act |
|
Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? |
Yes |
0.5 |
If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? |
Registrar; Notary; |
|
Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property transaction? |
Yes |
0.5 |
If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? |
Notary; |
|
Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of government issued identity documents? |
Yes |
1.0 |
What is the Court of first instance in charge of a case involving a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights for a property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the largest business city? |
Arrondissementsrecht bank Amsterdam |
|
How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a case (without appeal)? |
Less than a year |
3.0 |
Are there publicly available statistics on the number of land disputes at the economy level in the first instance court? |
No |
0.0 |
Number of land disputes in the economy in 2018: |
||
Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) |
0.0 |
|
Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? |
Yes |
|
Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? |
Yes |
0.0 |
Getting Credit
This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
Strength of legal rights index (0–12)
-
Rights of borrowers and lenders through collateral laws (0-10)
-
Protection of secured creditors’ rights through bankruptcy laws (0-2)
Depth of credit information index (0–8)
-
Scope and accessibility of credit information distributed by credit bureaus and credit registries (0-8)
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults)
-
Number of individuals and firms listed in largest credit bureau as a percentage of adult population
Credit registry coverage (% of adults)
-
Number of individuals and firms listed in credit registry as a percentage of adult population
Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index measures rules and practices affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank.
In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral.
Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used:
-
ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent).
-
ABC has up to 50 employees.
-
ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned.
The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests).
In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets.
Getting Credit – Netherlands
Indicator |
Netherlands |
OECD high income |
Best Regulatory Performance |
Strength of legal rights index (0-12) |
2 |
6.1 |
12 (5 Economies) |
Depth of credit information index (0-8) |
7 |
6.8 |
8 (53 Economies) |
Credit registry coverage (% of adults) |
0.0 |
24.4 |
100.0 (2 Economies) |
Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) |
98.7 |
66.7 |
100.0 (14 Economies) |
Figure – Getting Credit in Netherlands – Score |
45.0
Score – Getting Credit
Figure – Getting Credit in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Getting Credit Score
0 100
70.0: Denmark (Rank: 48)
65.0: Belgium (Rank: 67)
64.3: Regional Average (OECD high income) 60.0: Finland (Rank: 80)
50.0: France (Rank: 104)
45.0: Netherlands (Rank: 119)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index.
Figure – Legal Rights in Netherlands and comparator economies
8
8
6
6.1
4
2
9
8
Index Score
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Netherlands Belgium Denmark Finland France OECD
high income
Details – Legal Rights in Netherlands
Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 2
Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without requiring a specific description
of collateral?
Yes
Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and enforcement of functional equivalents No to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy?
May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and replacements of the
original assets?
No
Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a specific description of No collateral?
Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by asset type, with an
electronic database indexed by debtor's name?
No
Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be secured between parties; No and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered?
Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No
Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed online by any interested third No party?
Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency procedure? No
Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? Yes
Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow the secured creditor to sell No the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt?
Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization procedure? Does the law No protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it?
Figure – Credit Information in Netherlands and comparator economies
7
6.8
6 6 6
5
8
7
Index Score
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Netherlands Belgium Denmark Finland France OECD
high income
Details – Credit Information in Netherlands
Depth of credit information index (0-8)
Credit bureau
Credit registry
Score
Are data on both firms and individuals distributed?
No
No
0
Are data from retailers or utility companies – in addition to data from banks and
financial institutions – distributed?
Yes
No
1
Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? Yes No 1
Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed?
Yes
No
1
Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.)
Yes No 1
By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry?
Yes No 1
Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)?
Yes No 1
Total Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry)
7
Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers?
Yes No 1
Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0.
Coverage |
Credit bureau |
Credit registry |
Number of individuals |
10,987,000 |
0 |
Number of firms |
0 |
0 |
Total |
10,987,000 |
0 |
Percentage of adult population |
98.7 |
0.0 |
Protecting Minority Investors
This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
-
Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Disclosure, review, and approval requirements for related-party transactions
-
Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of minority shareholders to sue and hold interested directors liable for prejudicial related-party transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, disgorgement of profits, disqualification
from managerial position(s) for one year or more, rescission of the transaction)
-
Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to internal corporate documents; Evidence obtainable during trial and allocation of legal expenses
-
Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30): Sum of the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of shareholder suits indices
-
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6): Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate decisions
-
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7): Governance safeguards protecting shareholders from undue board control and entrenchment
-
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7): Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, compensation, audits and financial prospects
-
Extent of shareholder governance index (0–20): Sum of the extent of shareholders rights, extent of ownership and control and extent of corporate transparency indices
-
Strength of minority investor protection index (0–50): Sum of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of shareholder governance indices
To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several assumptions about the business and the transaction.
The business (Buyer):
-
Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock exchange.
-
Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law.
-
Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. James appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members.
-
Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum requirements. Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory.
-
Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network.
The transaction involves the following details:
-
Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two directors to Buyer’s five-member board.
-
Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores.
-
Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value.
-
The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not outside the authority of the company.
-
Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all required disclosures made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently.
-
The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the executives and directors that approved the transaction.
Stock exchange information
Stock exchange Euronext Amsterdam
Protecting Minority Investors – Netherlands
Stock exchange URL https://www.aex.nl
Listed firms with equity securities 185
City Covered Amsterdam
Indicator |
Netherlands |
OECD high income |
Best Regulatory Performance |
Extent of disclosure index (0-10) |
4.0 |
6.5 |
10 (13 Economies) |
Extent of director liability index (0-10) |
4.0 |
5.3 |
10 (3 Economies) |
Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) |
6.0 |
7.3 |
10 (Djibouti) |
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) |
5.0 |
4.7 |
6 (19 Economies) |
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) |
5.0 |
4.5 |
7 (9 Economies) |
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) |
5.0 |
5.7 |
7 (13 Economies) |
Figure – Protecting Minority in Netherlands – Score |
58.0
Score – Protecting Minority Investors
Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Protecting Minority Investors Score
0 100
72.0: Denmark (Rank: 28)
68.2: Regional Average (OECD high income) 68.0: Belgium (Rank: 45)
68.0: France (Rank: 45)
62.0: Finland (Rank: 61)
58.0: Netherlands (Rank: 79)
Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index.
Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
the Netherlands
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
OECD high income
5
4
4
5
5
6
6
6
8
3
4
7
6
5
7
5
5
8
6
4
6
2
5
8
7
3
8
6
4
6
5.6
5.6
6.6
4.3
4.5
7.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Sub-Indicator Score
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)
Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Netherlands – Measure of Quality |
||
Answer |
Score |
|
Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-30) |
||
Extent of disclosure index (0-10) |
4.0 |
|
Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) |
Board of directors excluding interested members |
2.0 |
Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) |
No |
0.0 |
Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) |
No disclosure obligation |
0.0 |
Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2) |
Disclosure on the transaction only |
1.0 |
Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2) |
Disclosure on the transaction only |
1.0 |
Extent of director liability index (0-10) |
4.0 |
|
Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) |
No |
0.0 |
Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2) |
Not liable |
0.0 |
Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-2) |
Liable if negligent |
1.0 |
Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) |
Yes |
1.0 |
Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) |
No |
0.0 |
Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) |
Voidable if negligently concluded |
1.0 |
Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) |
6.0 |
|
Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the transaction documents? (0-1) |
Yes |
1.0 |
Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) |
Any relevant document |
3.0 |
Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying specific ones? (0-1) |
No |
0.0 |
Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) |
Preapproved questions only |
1.0 |
Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) |
No |
0.0 |
Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) |
Yes if successful |
1.0 |
Extent of shareholder governance index (0-20) |
||
Extent of shareholder rights index (0-6) |
5.0 |
|
Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of shareholders? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new shares? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Do shareholders elect and dismiss the external auditor? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected shares approve? |
No |
0.0 |
Extent of ownership and control index (0-7) |
5.0 |
|
Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of directors? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? |
No |
0.0 |
Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end of their term? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board members? |
No |
0.0 |
Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Extent of corporate transparency index (0-7) |
5.0 |
|
Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and directorships in other companies? |
No |
0.0 |
Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? |
No |
0.0 |
Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting agenda? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Paying Taxes
This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2018 (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018). See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
Tax payments for a manufacturing company in 2018 (number per year adjusted for electronic and joint filing and payment)
-
Total number of taxes and contributions paid or withheld, including consumption taxes (value added tax, sales tax or goods and service tax)
-
Method and frequency of filing and payment
Time required to comply with 3 major taxes (hours per year)
-
Collecting information, computing tax payable
-
Preparing separate tax accounting books, if required
-
Completing tax return, filing with agencies
-
Arranging payment or withholding
Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial profits)
-
Profit or corporate income tax
-
Social contributions, labor taxes paid by employer
-
Property and property transfer taxes
-
Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions taxes
-
Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes
Postfiling Index
-
Time to comply with VAT refund (hours)
-
Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks)
-
Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours)
-
Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks)
Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply with the requirements of postfiling processes and time waiting.
To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used:
-
TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2017. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation (calendar year 2018). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government.
The VAT refund process:
-
In June 2018, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT in June 2018.
The corporate income tax audit process:
-
An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily notified the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax return, but within the tax assessment period.
Paying Taxes – Netherlands
Indicator |
Netherlands |
OECD high income |
Best Regulatory Performance |
Payments (number per year) |
9 |
10.3 |
3 (2 Economies) |
Time (hours per year) |
119 |
158.8 |
49 (3 Economies) |
Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) |
41.2 |
39.9 |
26.1 (33 Economies) |
Postfiling index (0-100) |
92.0 |
86.7 |
None in 2018/19 |
Figure – Paying Taxes in Netherlands – Score |
90.0
89.2
78.5
92.0
Payments
Time
Total tax and contribution rate
Postfiling index
Figure – Paying Taxes in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Paying Taxes Score
0 100
91.1: Denmark (Rank: 8)
90.9: Finland (Rank: 10)
87.4: Netherlands (Rank: 22)
84.3: Regional Average (OECD high income)
79.2: France (Rank: 61)
78.4: Belgium (Rank: 63)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold.
Figure – Paying Taxes in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
92.0
93.1
92.4
89.1
86.7
83.5
94
92
Index score
90
88
86
84
82
80
78
Netherlands Belgium Denmark
Finland
France OECD
high income
Details – Paying Taxes in Netherlands |
||||||
Tax or Payments mandatory (number) contribution |
Notes on Payments |
Time (hours) |
Statutory tax rate |
Tax base |
Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) |
Notes on TTCR |
Corporate 1.0 income tax |
online |
21.0 |
25% (EUR 0 – 200,000 at 20%) |
taxable profit |
20.37 |
|
Disablement act 0.0 contribution |
jointly |
7.99% |
wages for contribution for Disability Insurance Act (maximized) |
8.61 |
||
Health insurance 1.0 contribution |
online |
64.0 |
6.90% |
income for Health Insurance Act (maximized) |
7.44 |
|
Unemployment 0.0 insurance contribution |
jointly |
2.85% |
wages for contribution for Unemployment Insurance Act (maximized) – Exemption |
3.07 |
||
Special 0.0 unemployment insurance contribution |
jointly |
1.28% |
wages for contribution for Unemployment Insurance Act (maximized) |
1.38 |
||
Tax on insurance 1.0 contracts |
21% |
insurance premium |
0.21 |
|||
Real estate tax 1.0 |
0.16151% |
assessed property value |
0.11 |
|||
Road tax 1.0 |
EUR 306,36 |
vehicle weight |
0.01 |
|||
Sewage charges 1.0 |
EUR 128,40 |
fixed fee |
0.01 |
|||
Polder Board 1.0 Taxes |
0.015967% |
assessed property value |
0.01 |
|||
Fuel tax 1.0 |
EUR 0,48592 per liter |
fuel consumption |
0.00 |
small amount |
||
Social security 0.0 contribution on employee |
various rates |
gross salaries |
0.00 |
|||
Value added tax 1.0 (VAT) |
online |
34.0 |
21% |
value added |
0.00 |
not included |
Totals 9 |
119 |
41.2 |
Details – Paying Taxes in Netherlands – Tax by Type |
|
Taxes by type |
Answer |
Profit tax (% of profit) |
20.4 |
Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) |
20.5 |
Other taxes (% of profit) |
0.3 |
Details – Paying Taxes in Netherlands – Measure of Quality
Answer
Score
Postfiling index (0-100)
92.0
Does VAT exist?
Yes
VAT refunds
Restrictions on VAT refund process
none
Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes
Is there a mandatory carry forward period?
No
Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 0% – 24%
Time to obtain VAT refund (weeks)
15.0
78.2
Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 0.0 100
Does corporate income tax exist?
Yes
Corporate income tax audits
Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours)
3.5
96.3
Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% – 24%
Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) 2.1 93.3
Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable.
The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general.
The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction and time to complete a corporate income tax correction.
N/A = Not applicable.
Trading across Borders
Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
Documentary compliance
-
Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port or border handling in origin economy
-
Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents required by destination economy and any transit economies
-
Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including electronic submissions of information
Border compliance
-
Customs clearance and inspections
-
Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more than 20% of shipments)
-
Handling and inspections that take place at the economy’s port or border
Domestic transport
-
Loading or unloading of the shipment at the warehouse or port/border
-
Transport between warehouse and port/border
-
Traffic delays and road police checks while shipment is en route
To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions:
Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours.
Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and are informed about exchange rates.
Assumptions of the case study:
-
For all 190 economies covered by Doing Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the largest business city of the importing economy.
-
It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000.
-
The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing.
-
All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process.
-
A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy.
-
Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities.
Trading across Borders – Netherlands
Indicator |
Netherlands |
OECD high income |
Best Regulatory Performance |
Time to export: Border compliance (hours) |
0 |
12.7 |
1 (19 Economies) |
Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) |
0 |
136.8 |
0 (19 Economies) |
Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours) |
1 |
2.3 |
1 (26 Economies) |
Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) |
0 |
33.4 |
0 (20 Economies) |
Time to import: Border compliance (hours) |
0 |
8.5 |
1 (25 Economies) |
Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) |
0 |
98.1 |
0 (28 Economies) |
Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours) |
1 |
3.4 |
1 (30 Economies) |
Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) |
0 |
23.5 |
0 (30 Economies) |
Figure – Trading across Borders in Netherlands – Score |
Time |
Cost |
Time |
Cost |
Time |
Cost |
Time |
Cost |
to |
to |
to |
to |
to |
to |
to |
to |
export: |
export: |
export: |
export: |
import: |
import: |
import: |
import: |
Border |
Border |
Documentary |
Documentary |
Border |
Border |
Documentary |
Documentary |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
compliance |
Figure – Trading across Borders in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
DB 2020 Trading Across Borders Score
94.3: |
Region Finland 100: Be |
|
92.4: |
||
100: De |
||
100: Fra |
||
100: Ne |
0 100
al Average (OECD high income) (Rank: 37)
lgium (Rank: 1)
nmark (Rank: 1)
nce (Rank: 1)
therlands (Rank: 1)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import.
Figure – Trading across Borders in Netherlands – Time and Cost
1.2
Time (hours) Cost (USD)
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.2
1 1
Time (hours)
Cost (USD)
0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0
Export
–
Border Compliance
Export
–
Documentary Compliance
Import
–
Border Compliance
0
Import
–
Documentary Compliance
Details – Trading across Borders in Netherlands
Characteristics
Export
Import
Product
HS 84 : Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and
mechanical appliances; parts thereof
HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor vehicles
Border
Netherlands – Germany border crossing
Netherlands – Germany border crossing
Trade partner Germany Germany
Domestic transport time (hours)
3
3
Distance (km) 170 170
Domestic transport cost (USD) 315 315
Details – Trading across Borders in Netherlands – Components of Border Compliance
Time to Complete (hours) |
Associated Costs (USD) |
|
Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Export: Port or border handling |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Import: Port or border handling |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Details – Trading across Borders in Netherlands – Trade Documents
Export
Import
CMR waybill CMR waybill
Commercial invoice Commercial invoice
Packing list Packing list
Intrastat Intrastat
Enforcing Contracts
The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Case study assumptions
Time required to enforce a contract through the courts (calendar days)
-
Time to file and serve the case
-
Time for trial and to obtain the judgment
-
Time to enforce the judgment
Cost required to enforce a contract through the courts (% of claim value)
-
Average attorney fees
-
Court costs
-
Enforcement costs
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18)
-
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
-
Case management (0-6)
-
Court automation (0-4)
-
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3)
The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between two domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt enforcement.
To make the data on the time and comparable across economies, several assumptions about the case are used:
-
The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
The Buyer orders custom-made furniture, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are not of adequate quality.
-
The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater.
-
The Seller sues the Buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000 whichever is greater.
-
The Seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the claim.
-
The claim is disputed on the merits because of Buyer’s allegation that the quality of the goods was not adequate.
-
The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal.
-
The Seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the Buyer’s movable assets.
Standardized Case
Claim value EUR 85,091
Enforcing Contracts – Netherlands
City Covered Amsterdam
Court name Amsterdam District Court
Indicator |
Netherlands |
OECD high income |
Best Regulatory Performance |
Time (days) |
514 |
589.6 |
120 (Singapore) |
Cost (% of claim value) |
23.9 |
21.5 |
0.1 (Bhutan) |
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) |
7.0 |
11.7 |
None in 2018/19 |
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands – Score |
67.7
73.2
38.9
Time
Cost
Quality of judicial processes index
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Enforcing Contracts Score
0 100
73.9: Denmark (Rank: 14)
73.5: France (Rank: 16)
67.8: Regional Average (OECD high income)
66.4: Finland (Rank: 45)
64.3: Belgium (Rank: 56)
59.9: Netherlands (Rank: 78)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators.
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands – Time and Cost
700
600
Time (days)
500
400
300
200
100
0
Time (days) Cost (% of claim value)
589.6
505
23.3
485
485
514
23.9
21.5
18.0
447
16.2
17.4
Cost (% of claim value)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Belgium Denmark Finland France Netherlands OECD
high income
Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
the Netherlands
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
OECD high income
1.5
0.5
2
3
2.5
1 0
4.5
2.5
4.5
3.5
3.5
2.5
2
2.5
1.5
2.5
3
2
4.5
2.5
3.2
2.4
3.6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Sub-Indicator Score
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5)
Details – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands
Indicator
Time (days) 514
Trial and judgment 442
Filing and service 10
Cost (% of claim value) 23.9
Enforcement of judgment 62
Court fees 5
Attorney fees 13.7
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 7.0
Enforcement fees 5.2
Case management (0-6) 0.5
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 3.0
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 1.5
Court automation (0-4) 2.0
Details – Enforcing Contracts in Netherlands – Measure of Quality |
||
Answer |
Score |
|
Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) |
7.0 |
|
Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) |
3.0 |
|
1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? |
No |
0.0 |
2. Small claims court |
1.5 |
|
2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? |
Yes |
|
2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? |
Yes |
|
3. Is pretrial attachment available? |
Yes |
1.0 |
4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? |
Yes, but manual |
0.5 |
5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? |
Yes |
0.0 |
Case management (0-6) |
0.5 |
|
1. Time standards |
0.0 |
|
1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? |
Yes |
|
1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? |
No |
|
1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? |
Yes |
|
2. Adjournments |
0.5 |
|
2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be granted? |
No |
|
2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? |
Yes |
|
2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? |
Yes |
|
3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? |
No |
0.0 |
4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the competent court? |
No |
0.0 |
5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by judges? |
No |
0.0 |
6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for use by lawyers? |
No |
0.0 |
Court automation (0-4) |
2.0 |
|
1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the competent court? |
No |
0.0 |
2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the competent court? |
No |
0.0 |
3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? |
Yes |
1.0 |
4. Publication of judgments |
1.0 |
|
4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? |
Yes |
|
4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme court level made available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? |
Yes |
|
Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) |
1.5 |
|
1. Arbitration |
1.0 |
|
1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? |
Yes |
|
1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public order or public policy— that cannot be submitted to arbitration? |
Yes |
|
1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? |
Yes |
2. Mediation/Conciliation 0.5
2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or consolidated chapter or
section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects (for example, definition, aim and scope of application, desig
No
2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes
2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., if mediation or No conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)?
Resolving Insolvency
Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Time required to recover debt (years)
-
Measured in calendar years
-
Appeals and requests for extension are included
Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate)
-
Measured as percentage of estate value
-
Court fees
-
Fees of insolvency administrators
-
Lawyers’ fees
-
Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees
-
Other related fees
To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are used:
-
A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel experiences financial difficulties.
-
The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater.
-
The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to operate otherwise.
In addition, Doing Business evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to judicial liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best insolvency practices have been implemented in each economy covered.
Outcome
-
-
Whether business continues operating as a going concern or business assets are sold piecemeal
Recovery rate for creditors
-
Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors
-
Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered
-
Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted
-
Depreciation of furniture is taken into account
-
Present value of debt recovered
Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16)
-
Sum of the scores of four component indices:
-
Commencement of proceedings index (0-3)
-
Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6)
-
Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
-
Creditor participation index (0-4)
Indicator
Netherlands
OECD high income
Best Regulatory Performance
Recovery rate (cents on the dollar)
90.1
70.2
92.9 (Norway)
Resolving Insolvency – Netherlands
Cost (% of estate)
3.5
9.3
1.0 (Norway)
Time (years) 1.1 1.7 0.4 (Ireland)
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands – Score
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16)
11.5
11.9
None in 2018/19
Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going concern) 1 .. ..
97.0
71.9
Recovery rate Strength of insolvency framework index
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands and comparator economies – Ranking and Score
DB 2020 Resolving Insolvency Score
0 100
92.7: Finland (Rank: 1)
85.1: Denmark (Rank: 6)
84.4: Netherlands (Rank: 7)
84.1: Belgium (Rank: 9)
74.9: Regional Average (OECD high income)
74.6: France (Rank: 26)
Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index.
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands – Time and Cost
2
Time (years)
1.5
1
0.5
Time (years) Cost (% of estate)
1.9
9.0
9.3
1.7
0.9
1.0
1.1
3.5
4.0
0.9
3.5
3.5
10
Cost (% of estate)
8
6
4
2
0 0
Belgium Denmark Finland France Netherlands OECD
high income
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands and comparator economies – Measure of Quality
the Netherlands
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France
OECD high income
6
2.5
2
1
6
2.5
2
1
6
3
2
1
6
3
3
2.5
6
3
1
1
5.3
2.8
2.1
1.9
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Sub-Indicator Score
Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3)
Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”
Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands and comparator economies – Recovery Rate
90.1
89.4
88.5
88.0
74.8
70.2
Recovery rate(cents on the dollar)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Netherlands Belgium Denmark Finland France OECD high income
Details – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands
Indicator
Answer
Score
Proceeding
liquidation
BizBank can enforce its security through foreclosure. In order to prevent this, Mirage management will initiate bankruptcy proceedings, the court will appoint a trustee who will then request a stay of enforcement proceedings for a maximum of four months (2 months, which can be extended by 2 more months), while he attempts to sell the business
as a going concern. After the stay of enforcement period, BizBank can again enforce its security through foreclosure.
Time (in years)
1.1
Mirage management will initiate bankruptcy proceedings to prevent BizBank's foreclosure on the hotel's property. The court will declare Mirage bankrupt and appoint a bankruptcy trustee and a supervisory judge. The trustee will take over the management of the company and will be responsible for administration and liquidation of the estate. The trustee will investigate the value of the assets. In the meantime, the trustee can ask the court to impose a temporary stay on enforcement proceedings (2 months, which can be extended by 2 more months) while he attempts to sell the business as a going concern. The sale can be made through public auction or private sale. Property secured by a mortgage or a
pledge will be sold for the benefit of the secured creditor.
Outcome going concern The trustee appointed in bankruptcy proceedings will attempt to sell the company as a going concern to maximize the value of the assets for the creditors.
Recovery rate
(cents on the dollar)
90.1
Cost (% of estate) 3.5 Main expenses will include attorneys’ fees (2% of the value of the estate) and fees of the trustee (1%). The remaining expenses will include the cost of filing for bankruptcy, remuneration of the bankruptcy trustee, the fees of experts the trustee hires (such as assessors, accountants and auctioneers).
Details – Resolving Insolvency in Netherlands – Measure of Quality |
||
Answer |
Score |
|
Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) |
11.5 |
|
Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) |
2.5 |
|
What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings? |
(a) Debtor may file for both liquidation and reorganization |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor? |
(b) Yes, but a creditor may file for liquidation only |
0.5 |
What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the insolvency framework? (a) Debtor is generally unable to pay its debts as they mature (b) The value of debtor's liabilities exceeds the value of its assets |
(a) Debtor is generally unable to pay its debts as they mature |
1.0 |
Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) |
6.0 |
|
Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods and services to the debtor? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome contracts? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after commencement of insolvency proceedings? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? |
(b) Yes over ordinary unsecured creditors but not over secured creditors |
1.0 |
Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) |
1.0 |
|
Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? |
(b) Only creditors whose rights are affected by the proposed plan |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? |
No |
0.0 |
Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? |
No |
0.0 |
Creditor participation index (0-4) |
2.0 |
|
Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or appointment of the insolvency representative? |
No |
0.0 |
Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial assets of the debtor? |
No |
0.0 |
Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information from the insolvency representative? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? |
Yes |
1.0 |
Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.”
Employing Workers
Doing Business presents detailed data for the employing workers indicators on the Doing Business website (https://www.doingbusiness.org). The study does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business.
The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2019. See the methodology for more information.
What the indicators measure
Hiring
(i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts;
(iii) length of the maximum probationary period; (iv) minimum wage;(v) ratio of minimum wage to the average value added per worker.
Working hours
(i) maximum number of working days allowed per week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime;
(iii) whether there are restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest day and for overtime work; (iv) length of paid annual leave.
Redundancy rules
(i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant workers; (iii) whether the law requires employer to reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment.
To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the worker and the business are used.
The worker:
-
Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience.
-
Is a full-time employee.
-
Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory.
The business:
-
Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy).
-
Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city.
-
Has 60 employees.
-
Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them.
-
Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining agreements.
Redundancy cost
(i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments, and (iii) penalties due when terminating a redundant worker. Data on the availability of unemployment protection for a worker with one year of employment is also collected.
Employing Workers – Netherlands
Details – Employing Workers in Netherlands
Answer
Hiring
Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No
Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) 24.0
Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 24.0
Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 1004.6
Maximum length of probationary period (months) 2.0
Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.2
Standard workday 8.0
Working hours
Maximum number of working days per week 5.5
Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 0.0
Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 0.0
Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 0.0
Restrictions on night work? No
Restrictions on weekly holiday? No
Restrictions on overtime work? No
Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 20.0
Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 20.0
Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 20.0
Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 20.0
Redundancy rules
Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes
Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed? Yes
Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? Yes
Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed? Yes
Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? Yes
Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? Yes
Priority rules for redundancies? Yes
Priority rules for reemployment? No
Redundancy cost
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary) 4.3
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 13.0
Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 8.7
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure (weeks of salary) 0.0
Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary) 8.7
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 7.2
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure (weeks of salary) 14.3
Unemployment protection after one year of employment? Yes
Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in weeks of salary) 7.2
PEO Netherlands
The Netherlands emerges as an exceptional choice for businesses considering a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). Renowned for its strategic location, advanced infrastructure, and highly skilled workforce, the Netherlands offers an inviting environment for companies looking to expand their global footprint. With its business-friendly policies and ease of doing business, the country provides an optimal setting for PEOs to deliver efficient HR and employment solutions. Navigating the intricacies of Dutch employment regulations becomes smoother with the assistance of PEOs, ensuring compliance while accessing a diverse pool of talent. As a PEO destination, the Netherlands not only streamlines administrative processes but also opens doors to a thriving market and unparalleled growth prospects.
PEO services in the Netherlands provide a comprehensive and strategic solution for businesses seeking to streamline their operations and expand their workforce. These services offer a unique blend of human resources, payroll, and administrative support, allowing companies to focus on their core competencies while leaving the complexities of employment management to the experts. PEOs in the Netherlands take care of tasks such as recruitment, onboarding, benefits administration, tax compliance, and employee relations, ensuring that businesses remain compliant with the country’s intricate labor laws and regulations. By partnering with a PEO, companies can navigate the Dutch business landscape with greater ease, access top-tier talent, and maintain a competitive edge in an ever-evolving market. Whether entering the Dutch market or looking to enhance their existing operations, businesses can benefit from the efficiency and expertise that PEO services bring to the table.
Business Reforms in Netherlands
From May 2, 2018 to May 1, 2019, 115 economies implemented 294 business regulatory reforms across the 10 areas measured by Doing Business. Reforms inspired by
Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since Doing Business 2008.
=Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more difficult to do business.
DB2018
Getting Credit: The Netherlands improved access to credit information by lowering the minimum loan amount to be included in the credit bureau’s database.
DB2017
Paying Taxes: The Netherlands made paying taxes less costly by lowering the rates paid by employers for health insurance contributions, special unemployment insurance, unemployment insurance and real estate taxes. The Netherlands also made paying taxes easier by improving the online system for paying corporate income tax. However, the Netherlands made paying taxes more costly by increasing the rates for disablement insurance contribution paid by employers, polder board tax and motor tax.
Employing Workers: The Netherlands reduced the maximum duration of fixed-term contracts from 36 to 24 months. Severance pay was introduced for redundancy dismissals for employees with at least 2 years of continuous employment.
DB2016
Paying Taxes: The Netherlands made paying taxes more costly for companies by increasing employer-paid labor contributions as well as road taxes, property taxes and polder board taxes.
DB2014
Starting a Business: The Netherlands made starting a business easier by abolishing the minimum capital requirement.
Registering Property: The Netherlands made transferring property easier by increasing the efficiency of the title search process.
Getting Credit: The Netherlands weakened its secured transactions system through an amendment to the Collection of State Taxes Act that grants priority outside bankruptcy to tax claims over secured creditors’ claims.
DB2013
Starting a Business: The Netherlands made starting a business easier by eliminating the requirement for a declaration of nonobjection by the Ministry of Justice before incorporation.
Dealing with Construction Permits: The Netherlands made dealing with construction permits simpler by merging several approvals and implementing an online application system.
Protecting Minority Investors: The Netherlands strengthened investor protections through a new law regulating the approval of related-party transactions.
Trading across Borders: The Netherlands made importing easier by introducing a new web-based system for cargo release at the port terminals in Rotterdam.
DB2011
Paying Taxes: The Netherlands reduced the frequency of filing and paying value added taxes from monthly to quarterly and allowed small entities to use their annual accounts as the basis for computing their corporate income tax.
DB2010
Dealing with Construction Permits: The Netherlands improved its construction regulation process through a new spatial planning law.
DB2008
Paying Taxes: The Netherlands made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate, social security contribution rates and the rates of several other taxes.
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