It’s actually quite simple: the Dutch Tax Authority (Belastingdienst) wants to know how much you’ve earned and how much VAT you’ve received on that income. In addition, you’re allowed to deduct the VAT you've already paid on your expenses (incoming invoices) from that amount.
So, you need to know your total income and expenses, both excluding VAT, and the corresponding VAT amounts.
Step 1: Download your invoices
Download all available invoices in your financial overview that fall within the relevant quarter.
⚠️ Note: You must also report invoices as income even if you haven’t been paid yet. The invoice date is what counts for the Tax Authority.
Go to your financial overview → invoices → download both your sales invoices (M) and purchase invoices (F).
The document starting with a T is a transaction statement— this is not an invoice and can be skipped.
Step 2: Calculate your income and VAT
You need to know:
Your total income excluding VAT
The total amount of VAT received
This is the sum of all shifts you’ve worked.
To know the total, just add up all sales invoices (M) where VAT (usually 21%) is applied. Sometimes you’ll see 0% BTW or "btw verlegd" — these invoices are not included in your return. Read here why.
For each invoice, note:
The amount excluding VAT (grondslag)
The VAT amount
Important! Have you taken over a shift from another FreeFlexer? Then you invoice the FreeFlexer, and their details will appear on the invoice — not the client’s.
Have you had a shift covered by someone else? Then you’ll find two invoices in your financial overview:
One from you to the client (this counts as income – see step 2)
One from the substitute to you (this counts as an expense – see step 3)
Step 3: Determine your expenses and paid VAT
You now need to know:
Your total expenses excluding VAT
The VAT paid on those expenses
Download all purchase invoices from your financial overview. These include, for example, invoices from DirectPay (if you've chosen that option).
Note: Multiple shifts may appear on a single purchase invoice — make sure you only process each invoice once. You can recognize them by the reference number (F).
If you had a shift covered by someone else, you'll also find an invoice from the substitute to you in your overview. This also counts as a business expense.
For each invoice, note:
The amount excluding VAT (grondslag)
The VAT amount
Add these together to get your total expenses, both excluding and including VAT.
Step 4: File your VAT return
Now that you’ve gathered all the amounts, you can file your VAT return. Follow this official guide from the Dutch Tax Authority:
👉 How do I file a VAT return? (Belastingdienst)
In short:
1a: Enter your total income excluding VAT (step 2) and the VAT received on that income.
5a: Enter the VAT due — this is the same amount you reported under 1a.
5b: Enter the VAT you’ve paid on your expenses (step 3). This is called voorbelasting. ⚠️ Important: Only enter the VAT amount, not the total expenses.
Can't figure it out, or is your VAT return a bit on the difficult side? At The TaxSavers, you can get help and full English support! Why make it difficult when we can make things easy for you? As a FreeFlexer, you get a 20% discount on their services. Please, contact them for more information.