BV Formation
Finance
eHerkenning: The Dutch Digital Identity Every BV Founder Needs
eHerkenning is mandatory for every Dutch BV. See which level you actually need, what it costs, and how to delegate access to your accountant.
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13 mins
Intro
Most Dutch entrepreneurs encounter eHerkenning at exactly the wrong moment, mid-filing, mid-deadline, mid-panic, when a government portal simply refuses to let them in. That timing shapes how this topic usually gets covered: as a technical explainer read calmly in advance, rather than as the practical fix someone actually needs while their BTW deadline is closing in. What follows is written for both situations, but it leads with what to actually do.
It works through what eHerkenning is and why a BV cannot substitute DigiD for it, which of its levels you genuinely need and which you can ignore, where the requirement keeps expanding in 2026, exactly how to apply and what it costs, and how to hand routine filings to an accountant without giving up your own access to everything else.
The Login That Stops You in Your Tracks
It happens at the worst possible moment. A BTW deadline is closing in, a VPB aangifte is due, or a subsidy window is about to shut, and Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk simply refuses the login, telling you DigiD is not accepted for this account. For a BV, DigiD was never actually an option in the first place. The BV is a separate legal entity from the DGA running it, and government portals authenticate at that entity level, not the personal level. That authentication is eHerkenning.
DigiD confirms who a person is. eHerkenning confirms who the person is, which company they represent, and that they are actually authorised to act for that specific company, all at once. The verification chain runs from the individual through to the KvK register and on to the specific organisation being accessed. That is precisely why a DGA cannot simply reach for their personal DigiD on behalf of their BV: the BV is a distinct legal entity with its own KvK number, and that number needs its own, separate authentication.
There is one clean exception worth knowing. A sole trader, an eenmanszaak, is legally the same person as its owner, with no separate legal identity to authenticate, so sole traders and ZZP entrepreneurs can generally still use DigiD for most Belastingdienst interactions. A BV, a VOF, a stichting, a maatschap, or any other genuinely separate legal entity cannot.
Key takeaway: eHerkenning is not optional for a BV. It is the only way into Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, the only way to file VPB and BTW returns as a legal entity, the only way to deposit annual accounts at the KvK, and the only way to interact with UWV or apply for subsidies at RVO. Since 1 January 2026, the list of government portals requiring it has expanded meaningfully under new legislation, and that expansion is still ongoing.
Since the BV's status as a distinct legal entity is exactly what makes this authentication necessary in the first place, starting a company in the Netherlands is worth reading alongside this for the fuller picture of what that separation actually means in practice.
Three Levels, One Right Answer for Most BVs
eHerkenning comes in four security levels in total, but almost no founder needs to think carefully about most of them. The practical answer for a newly incorporated Dutch BV filing tax returns, depositing its jaarrekening, and applying for business subsidies is EH3, the level required by virtually every government portal in the country.
Level | Authentication method | What it accesses | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|---|
EH2 | Username and password only | Almost no government services still accept this in 2026 | Nobody; too low for current requirements |
EH2+ | Username, password, plus SMS or PIN | A small number of lower-sensitivity services | Rarely; check the specific service first |
EH3 | Username, password, plus an app, QR code, SMS, or hardware token | Belastingdienst, UWV, RVO, KvK, Douane, municipalities, and over 600 other government services | The standard for essentially every BV |
EH4 | PKI certificate or full two-factor authentication | DNB regulatory portals and specific financial sector reporting | Regulated entities with particular sector obligations |
There is one important choice hiding inside EH3 itself that catches out plenty of founders trying to save a few euros. A cheaper, Belastingdienst-specific variant of EH3 exists, sometimes labelled EH3+ Belastingdienst, that works exclusively at the Belastingdienst and nowhere else. It qualifies for an annual government compensation of 24.20 euros including BTW, applied for through RVO, which brings its real cost down close to zero. Regular EH3, by contrast, typically runs 25 to 55 euros a year but opens every one of the 600-plus government services rather than just one. A founder who buys the Belastingdienst-only version to save money, then later needs to log in to RVO for a subsidy or to UWV for a sick leave notification, discovers they need to purchase a second, separate eHerkenning just for that. For most BVs, the regular EH3 is simply the better investment from day one, since the price gap is modest and the coverage gap is not.
Two-factor authentication has been mandatory across every eHerkenning level since 1 July 2025, so an older account set up before that date without a second authentication factor may no longer be fully compliant and could need updating with the provider before it works reliably again. Since filing BTW returns through Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk is one of the most common reasons a founder discovers this requirement in the first place, when to file VAT is worth reading alongside this to see exactly where EH3 fits into that filing rhythm.
Where You Will Need It
The Wet modernisering elektronisch bestuurlijk verkeer, WMEBV, took effect on 1 January 2026, giving businesses a legal right to communicate electronically with government bodies and requiring those bodies to support reliable authentication methods, DigiD or eHerkenning among them, to make that right meaningful. Before this law, whether a given municipality or agency accepted digital submissions at all was largely up to that body's own discretion; now it is a statutory obligation rather than a courtesy, and every affected organisation has to formally designate at least one digital channel for each type of official communication it handles. The practical result is that a BV which could previously get by without eHerkenning for certain municipal or regulatory interactions may now find those same interactions genuinely require it. The current count already stands above 600 service providers and more than 2,500 individual services, and that number keeps climbing as municipalities and regulators finish their own implementation work.
For a Dutch BV in practice, eHerkenning covers a genuinely wide range of ground: filing BTW and VPB returns through Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, adjusting a voorlopige aanslag VPB mid-year, submitting the jaarrekening to the KvK, every UWV interaction including sick leave notifications, reintegration obligations, and payroll submissions, applying for investment grants and deductions through RVO such as KIA, EIA, and MIA, customs declarations via Douane, a growing share of municipal interactions covering permits and subsidies, and DNB reporting for entities carrying specific regulatory obligations.
There is a planning trap worth naming directly here. Founders researching a relevant subsidy programme often only discover the eHerkenning requirement once they are already weeks into that research, at which point the standard four-week processing time can genuinely cost them the application window entirely. Building eHerkenning into the routine BV setup checklist, alongside the KvK registration and Belastingdienst registrations that happen in the same early weeks, avoids this scenario completely rather than discovering it under deadline pressure later. Getting the KvK number itself sorted correctly is the natural first step this sits alongside; getting your KvK number covers that parallel piece of early setup in full.
Applying, Costs and the Government Compensation
Applying for eHerkenning takes roughly twenty minutes of actual effort and up to four weeks of waiting. The active part covers choosing a provider, submitting company and identity documents, and setting up the authentication method itself; the waiting time is simply the provider verifying KvK register data behind the scenes.
The first real decision is which erkende aanbieder, recognised provider, to use. All approved providers are listed at eherkenning.nl, and the underlying eHerkenning product is standardised across them; what actually differs is price, processing speed, the quality of the management portal, and how well that portal handles multiple linked entities. KPN, We-ID, DigiCert, and Connectis are among the most widely used names in the Dutch BV market, and comparing a handful of them before committing is worth the ten minutes it takes.
The documentation required for EH3 is straightforward: the company's KvK number, a valid identity document for the person who will actually use the eHerkenning, and confirmation that this person is genuinely authorised to represent the company. For a DGA already listed at the KvK as bevoegd bestuurder, that authorisation gets confirmed automatically by the provider directly against the KvK register. For anyone else who is not themselves registered at the KvK, a separate machtiging from the authorised representative is required first.
On cost, a regular EH3 typically runs between 25 and 55 euros a year depending on the provider and the contract term, with three-year and five-year commitments generally bringing the annual figure down further. This cost is a straightforward deductible business expense inside the BV. The Belastingdienst-specific EH3 variant runs closer to 20 euros a year before the compensation, and the compensation itself, 24.20 euros including BTW, is available specifically to rechtspersonen, BVs, stichtingen, coöperaties, and similar entities, but not to eenmanszaken, since sole traders can already use DigiD at no cost. That compensation is not automatic; it needs a fresh application at RVO every single calendar year, with the application window typically spanning close to a full year itself, running from autumn through the following autumn rather than aligning neatly with the calendar year it actually covers. It is worth building this into an annual administrative rhythm rather than treating it as a one-off task, since RVO generally decides within about eight weeks and, in practice, many applicants see the payment land within days rather than waiting the full period.
Watch out: The four-week processing time is a standard lead time, not a guaranteed maximum. Some providers process faster for an extra fee; others take longer during busy periods. A founder who incorporates and immediately needs to file a BTW return should apply for eHerkenning on the same day as the KvK registration, not once the first filing deadline has actually arrived.
Since deciding who actually handles which filing is closely tied to this whole setup, accountant or bookkeeper is worth reading alongside this before settling on exactly how much of this you plan to manage yourself.
Delegating Access Without Sharing Your Login
A DGA whose accountant already files every BTW return and VPB aangifte might reasonably assume they can skip getting their own eHerkenning entirely. That assumption is partly right and partly a trap. The ketenmachtiging system genuinely lets an accountant interact with the Belastingdienst on a client's behalf without that client needing their own eHerkenning at all, but this delegation covers the Belastingdienst specifically, and nothing beyond it.
A ketenmachtiging works as an authorisation chain: the BV founder authorises an intermediary, an accountant, bookkeeper, or administrator, to act on their behalf for specific services, and that intermediary logs in using their own eHerkenning combined with this authorisation rather than the client's own credentials. The client shows up as a managed client inside the accountant's own dashboard, and the founder themselves never needs to log in personally for whatever falls under that arrangement. The accountant needs their own EH3 plus a distinct ketenmachtiging from every individual client they act for this way.
The practical consequence is worth stating plainly, since it rarely gets spelled out anywhere. If an accountant holds a ketenmachtiging covering a BV's Belastingdienst interactions, the DGA genuinely may never need to log in to the Belastingdienst personally at all. But that same accountant's ketenmachtiging does nothing for UWV sick leave reporting, RVO subsidy applications, or KvK jaarrekening submissions; those still require the founder's own eHerkenning, since the ketenmachtiging arrangement is specific to the Belastingdienst in most implementations rather than a blanket delegation across every government portal. The sensible default, regardless of how capable your accountant is, is to obtain your own EH3 anyway.
Within eHerkenning itself, the account holder can also set up machtigingen for individual employees, restricting each one to exactly the services they actually need rather than handing out full access by default. A payroll administrator can be granted UWV access specifically without also getting Belastingdienst or RVO access alongside it, which keeps internal access genuinely proportionate to each person's actual role.
For anyone running more than one BV inside a holding structure, multiple KvK numbers can typically be linked to a single eHerkenning account, with machtigingen then managed centrally across the whole group through the provider's own portal rather than buying and juggling a separate eHerkenning for every entity. Since that kind of structure raises its own set of considerations beyond just login access, setting up a BV and holding together covers how that broader setup typically comes together.
Get eHerkenning Sorted Before You Need It Urgently
The single most avoidable problem in this whole area is timing. Applying for eHerkenning takes about twenty minutes and roughly four weeks to clear; discovering you need it three days before a filing deadline turns a routine administrative task into a genuine emergency. Building it into the same setup window as your KvK registration removes this risk entirely, and it costs nothing extra to do it early.
If you want help getting your BV's registrations, eHerkenning included, set up correctly and in the right order from day one, book a demo and we will walk through your specific setup together. Our team can also help you incorporate your BV or get bookkeeping and payroll running correctly alongside it.
FAQs
What is eHerkenning?
eHerkenning is the Dutch digital identity system for businesses, the equivalent of DigiD for individuals. It authenticates a person, the specific company they represent, and their authority to act on that company's behalf, and it must be purchased from a recognised private provider rather than issued by the government.
Does every Dutch BV need eHerkenning?
Yes. Any BV, VOF, stichting, or similar legal entity needs eHerkenning to access Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk and most other government portals, since DigiD only authenticates individuals and cannot confirm authority to act for a separate legal entity.
Can a DGA use DigiD for their BV?
No. A BV is a distinct legal entity from the DGA who runs it, and government portals require authentication at that entity level. Sole traders and ZZP entrepreneurs remain an exception, since an eenmanszaak has no separate legal identity from its owner.
Which eHerkenning level does a BV need?
EH3, in almost every case. It is the level required by the Belastingdienst, UWV, RVO, KvK, Douane, and the large majority of Dutch government services, and it is the sensible default purchase for a standard Dutch BV.
What is the difference between regular EH3 and Belastingdienst-specific EH3?
Regular EH3 works at the Belastingdienst plus over 600 other government services. The Belastingdienst-specific variant is cheaper and eligible for government compensation, but works exclusively at the Belastingdienst and nowhere else, including not at UWV or RVO.
How much does eHerkenning cost?
Regular EH3 typically costs between 25 and 55 euros a year depending on the provider and contract length, with multi-year contracts generally lowering the annual cost. The cost is a deductible business expense.
Is there a government subsidy for eHerkenning?
Yes, but only for the Belastingdienst-specific EH3 variant. Rechtspersonen can apply annually at RVO for a compensation of 24.20 euros including BTW; eenmanszaken are not eligible, since they can use DigiD instead at no cost.
How long does it take to get eHerkenning?
Around four weeks is the standard processing time for a regular EH3 application, though some providers offer faster processing for an additional fee. Applying at the same time as KvK registration avoids being caught out later by a filing deadline.
What is a ketenmachtiging?
A ketenmachtiging lets an accountant or bookkeeper act on a client's behalf at the Belastingdienst using their own eHerkenning, without the client needing their own login for that specific purpose. It does not extend to UWV, RVO, or other government portals.
Can one eHerkenning account cover multiple BVs in a holding structure?
Yes, typically. Multiple KvK numbers can usually be linked to a single eHerkenning account, with access managed centrally across the group through the provider's portal, avoiding the need to purchase separate eHerkenning for every individual entity.
Written by
Nick Knuppe
CEO & Founder
