Value Added Tax (VAT, or BTW in Dutch) is a type of turnover tax that applies to most goods and services sold by businesses in the country.
Basically, when you sell something that's subject to VAT, you need to add the tax to the price. The rate depends on what you're selling — it could be 9%, 21%, or even 0%. Then that money goes to the Dutch tax authority.
But here's the cool part: you can usually claim back the VAT that you pay on things you buy for your business by filing a VAT return form. That means you won't get taxed twice on the same thing.
Another cool thing is that if your annual turnover doesn’t exceed €20,000, you can apply for the Small Business Scheme and forget about VAT until that threshold is reached. You can read more on that
here.
Now, if your business is based outside of the Netherlands but you do business in the country, you still need to follow Dutch VAT rules. They’re a bit different if you are based abroad, so make sure you know what you're doing to avoid any issues. For starters,
register with the International Office of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration.