KVK number on your website: what Dutch law says must be on it

Yes, your KVK number must be on your website, and not only that. Under article 3:15d of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW), anyone offering services or products through a website also shows their name, a geographic address, an email address and their VAT identification number on the site, and in some professions the supervisory authority or the professional body. On top of that, the Dutch Trade Register Act (Handelsregisterwet) requires the KVK number on all paper and electronic documents your business uses, except advertising.

The law also says how: the details must be "easily, directly and permanently accessible". That means reachable from every page, not hidden behind a form or in a PDF you first have to download. In practice they sit in the footer and in full on the contact page.

This guide is for anyone running a business registered with KVK, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce, whose site is in English: freelancers who moved to the Netherlands, international founders with a Dutch BV, and Dutch companies with an English site for customers abroad. Dutch law applies to your site whatever language it is in. Below you find the required details field by field, with the legal article, where best to put them, what to do if your home address is shielded, and what to add if you also sell to customers in Belgium.

The six details a Dutch business site must show

Formally that is six items, a to f, with name and address together under a. The second paragraph of the same article also requires you to state prices clearly, including VAT if you sell to consumers. Your branch number (vestigingsnummer) and RSIN do not need to be on your site.

Where to put the details

A colophon or a "legal information" page is fine, but does not replace the footer if your visitor needs two clicks to get there. A contact form alone is not enough either: the law asks for an email address you actually answer.

If your site has both an English and a Dutch version, put the same details on both. Translate the labels ("Chamber of Commerce" or "KVK", "VAT" or "btw"), never the numbers.

Your address is shielded: what then?

Since 1 January 2022 KVK shields home addresses in the Business Register. If you work from home with a sole proprietorship, you can also have your visiting address shielded, as long as you have a postal address that is not your home address. Shielding only works if you also take the address off your own site. But the law asks for a geographic address on your site.

The usual solution: a business address where you can be reached, such as an office, a business centre or an establishment address at a flexible workspace, which you use both in the Business Register and on your site. A PO box does not count as a geographic address. How that works for your registration you sort out with KVK; what it means for tax, with your accountant.

What happens if it is missing

In practice the details are checked by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets for online shops selling to consumers, by competitors who call you out, and by customers who want to know who they are dealing with. For a BV or NV the KVK number on letters and orders applies without exception. And apart from the law: a site without an address and number looks like the site of someone who would rather hide. For a new customer, that is a reason to leave.

Selling in Belgium too?

A Dutch company selling to Belgian customers uses its own register on its site: the KVK number and the Dutch VAT ID. You only have a Belgian enterprise number if you have an establishment in Belgium or are registered there. Belgian customers are used to different words, though:

The Belgian rules ask for largely the same on a business site: name, address, contact with email, enterprise number, VAT number and, for a regulated profession, the professional details. If you have a Belgian establishment, add that enterprise number. What else your Belgian visitors expect is in selling in Belgium from the Netherlands. The European baseline rule, for a site in any EU country, is summarised in company number on your website.

A quick check of your own site

• Are name, KVK number and VAT ID in the footer of every page, on mobile too?
• Is there a geographic address, not a PO box?
• Is there an email address, next to or instead of just a form?
• Does the KVK number match the Business Register, also after a move or a new BV?
• Is the VAT ID there, and not your old turnover tax number with your BSN in it?
• Do you hold a licence or a protected title? Then add the supervisory authority or the professional body.
• Do you sell to consumers? Then prices with VAT, delivery, payment and the right of withdrawal in the checkout.
• Does your English version show the same details as your Dutch one?

Three footers, three situations

• A sole proprietor working from homeName, KVK number and VAT ID in the footer; as the address a business address where you can be reached, so your home address can stay shielded. On the contact page an email address and a phone number too.
• A BV with an officeThe registered name with "B.V.", the office address, KVK number and VAT ID in the footer of every page, and the same details in your terms and conditions and your email signature.
• A law firm or accountantEverything from the BV, plus the professional body, the professional title and where the professional rules can be found. A firm working in both countries shows, per language version, the register and bar or institute of that country.