There’s no greater feeling around tax time than landing the perfect return.
ZZP’ers (that’s you, freelancer) in the Netherlands have a throng of benefits and deductions at their fingertips. Yet asset depreciation is often overlooked. Without an understanding of how depreciation works, freelancers miss out on taxable-income reductions, fail achievable long-term budgeting, and may find themselves with compliance issues with the Belastingdienst (that’s the Dutch Tax Authority).
No fear! This guide will serve to explain asset depreciation, why it matters for your business, and how to correctly account for it to ensure you’re getting the maximum benefits from your taxes in the Netherlands.
What is asset depreciation, and why does it matter?
Asset depreciation is the gradual reduction in value of business assets over time.
Businesses have both tangible and intangible assets. Intangible refers to non-physical assets, such as investments, or software purchases. Tangible assets are physical and often costly: laptops, company cars, phones and real estate are all tangible assets.
Tangible assets often lose value over time, and this is where asset depreciation kicks in. Instead of deducting the full cost of the asset the year you purchase it, depreciation allows you to spread the cost (and deductions) out over multiple years––this gives you the chance to align deductions with your use of the asset.
Top 4 reasons why asset depreciation matters
It’s all about the big picture and your budget. While a lump sum may seem like the hidden gem you’ve been looking for, asset depreciation is the profit vein that keeps you in business. This is why we love depreciation:
- Lowers your taxable profit: Depreciating assets reduce your taxable income, meaning you pay less income tax on a continued basis.
- Provides a realistic financial picture: Depreciation helps you accurately track business expenses and ensures that your financial statements reflect the true value of your assets.
- Helps with budgeting: Spreading asset costs over multiple years allows you to plan finances more efficiently and avoid large expense spikes in a single tax year.
- Ensures compliance with Dutch tax laws: The Belastingdienst enforces correct asset depreciation accounting for businesses that own assets above a certain value.
4 factors that make assets depreciable
Not all purchases qualify for depreciation. A cardinal rule in accounting declares that depreciating assets have proven usefulness and last over a year in their usability.
In the Netherlands, you can only depreciate business assets that meet certain criteria. Think you’ve got depreciable assets? It’s time to save those receipts and cross these characteristics off your checklist on each:
✔️ The asset is owned by your business (not rented or leased).
✔️ It has a useful life of more than one year.
✔️ The cost is higher than €450 (excluding VAT).
✔️ The asset loses value over time (not consumables like office supplies).
Examples of depreciable business assets
Electronics & office equipment: Laptops, printers, mobile phones, cameras.
Furniture: Office desks, chairs, storage cabinets.
Vehicles: Company cars, business-use motorcycles.
Tools & machinery: Equipment used for professional services (e.g., photography gear, carpentry tools).
Software & licenses: If purchased for multiple years.
How to calculate asset depreciation as a freelancer in the Netherlands
The Belastingdienst allows two main depreciation methods for ZZP'ers:
1. Straight-line depreciation (Lineaire Afschrijving)
The most commonly used method. You divide the cost of the asset evenly over its useful life.
📌 Formula:
Annual Depreciation = (Purchase Price - Residual Value) / Useful Life
📌 Example:
You buy a laptop for €1,500, with a useful life of 5 years and a residual value of €0.
€1,500 / 5 years = €300 depreciation per year.
This means you deduct €300 per year from your taxable income.
2. Declining balance depreciation (Degressieve Afschrijving)
This method applies a fixed percentage to the remaining value each year. It front-loads depreciation, meaning you deduct more in the earlier years. This is often used for company cars and high-value machinery.
📌 Example:
You purchase a company car for €25,000 and use a 20% declining balance depreciation rate.
Year 1: €25,000 × 20% = €5,000 depreciation
Year 2: (€25,000 - €5,000) × 20% = €4,000 depreciation
Year 3: (€20,000 - €4,000) × 20% = €3,200 depreciation
Each year, the remaining balance decreases, reducing the depreciation amount annually.
Special tax deductions for business assets in the Netherlands
The Dutch tax system offers several tax benefits to entrepreneurs who invest in business assets. Some key deductions include:
🟢 Kleinschaligheidsinvesteringsaftrek (KIA) – Small-scale investment deduction for business purchases above €2,600 per year.
🟢 Milieu-investeringsaftrek (MIA) – Deductions for environmentally friendly equipment.
🟢 Vervroegde afschrijving (Accelerated Depreciation) – Some assets can be fully depreciated earlier based on tax incentives.
Want to know if your purchases qualify? Read our full guide to investment deductions for freelancers.
How Xolo makes asset depreciation hassle-free
Manually calculating depreciation and tracking tax deductions can be time-consuming and stressful—but with Xolo, freelancers in the Netherlands can automate the entire process.
- Upload your invoices for business assets to your Xolo dashboard, and our platform automatically tracks and categorizes business assets.
- Depreciation is correctly calculated, ensuring you get all eligible deductions while staying compliant.
- We handle tax filings, so you never have to worry about depreciation mistakes or missed deductions.
- Expert accountant support: No chatbots, just real people helping you optimize your tax return.
Keeping track of your business assets is essential for tax efficiency. With Xolo, you don’t need to manually calculate depreciation or worry about compliance. We ensure your tax return and business finances are in tip-top shape.
Contact Xolo Support, and we’ll guide you through the process!
Sign up today and let Xolo make every tax season stress-free! 🚀