How much should you pay yourself from your BV?

When you own and work in your own BV, you're a director-major shareholder — a DGA (directeur-grootaandeelhouder). And the Belastingdienst doesn't let you simply pay yourself nothing and take everything as dividend. You must pay a 'customary salary', the gebruikelijk loon.

The customary salary is meant to reflect what someone would earn doing comparable work. There's a minimum benchmark the tax authority updates each year, and rules that tie your salary to what the business can support and to comparable roles. Because the figure changes annually, the number you heard from a friend two years ago is probably out of date — always check the current amount before you set your payroll.

Once the salary is set, the interesting question is what to do with the rest of the profit. Broadly, money can leave the BV as salary (taxed as income now) or as dividend (taxed differently, and only when you distribute it). The right mix depends on your income needs, the profit level, and your longer-term plans — including whether you're building reserves inside the BV to invest or reinvest. There's no single correct split; there's a correct split for your situation.

This is also where a holding structure often comes in. Many DGAs run a holding BV above their working BV, which changes how profits and dividends can move and be protected. It adds admin, but for the right business it's worth it.

The takeaway: paying yourself from a BV is a decision, not an afterthought. Set the customary salary correctly (so you don't invite questions from the Belastingdienst), then plan the salary-versus-dividend mix deliberately around your real goals. If that feels murky, it's precisely the kind of thing a fractional finance partner sorts out quickly.