What are business costs?

According to the tax auhorities, you may deduct business expenses from your profits. “Business costs are therefore the costs that are necessary within the reasonable limits for the exercise of your business and the costs directly related to your business.”

Business costs

A number of costs are clearly business-like. This concerns, for example, your registration with the Kamer van Koophandel (Chamber of Commerce), the rent of a workspace, materials, payemnets of work by fellow freelancers (also: work by third parties) and marketing costs for your company. In addition to regular costs, there are also investments.

Partly business-like and partly private

In these situations, only the business part is deductible from your profits. With travel costs it’s important that you only enter the trips that are for business, since we can’ t estimate that.

We apply private corrections, for example on mobile phone costs or lunch and dinner costs, over the end of the year. That means you enter the entire invoice amount.

Business or private?

Some costs can be both business and private. This is often debatable. Where for one entrepreneur a museum year card is inconceivable, it could be an explainable expense for an art historian.

When considering whether something is businesslike or not, try to view the situation from the perspective of the tax inspector.

Type of expenses

Travel and transport

• Do you drive business or private?
  • Business car: Do you have a car registered on your business? Then you may include all receipts and costs in your administration. Even if you have driven privately. You will pay the additional tax based on a closed mileage administration, you will determine which part of your car needs to be corrected. Even when you rent a car or van for business purposes, you may include all receipts and invoices in your administration. Whether it is wise to own the car for business purposes, is up to you. Of course you can consult your own Bookie. Please note that you make the choice to drive business or private as soon as you purchase the car.
  • Private car: 19 cents per kilometer. If you drive your private car for business purposes, you can deduct € 0.19 per kilometer.
• Public Transportation
  • Tickets for train, tram, busses and taxi are deductible, when the transport was for business means. Public transportation can be added to your expenses by exporting your trips from je mijnns.nl and adding them to your Bookie App Don't forget to remove your personal trips.

Communication and marketing

• Design logo
•  Phonecosts
  • download your invoice and make sure it has btw (VAT)
• Internetcosts
• Website
• Promotioncosts on Social Media
• Business cards, stickers, cards and prints

Subscriptions and contracts

For recurring, fixed and/or monthly costs you generally do not always receive an invoice. That does not mean that you can not include them in your expenses. In The Bookie Webapp you add the costs, but you do not have to add an invoice or receipt if you do not have one (only in the case of subscriptions.

• studio or office rental
  • depending on the agreements with your landlord, your rent is taxed or not. So check if your rent is exempted from VAT or taxed with 21% btw (VAT).
• insurances
  • this includes your professional and business liability insurance. These costs are exempted from btw (VAT).
• bank charges
  • your bank also charges costs. You can find these on your printout, every three months or year. There is also no btw on these costs.
• Programs like Adobe
  • Please note that the VAT has often been shifted. You can indicate this in your expenses (uitgave) under btw verlegging

 

Knowledge: further training and schooling

Even if you are an entrepreneur you'll always have to develop. The expenses must be relevant though for your industry and to broaden your knowledge.

• Courses, training courses, seminars and workshops
  • costs for new knowledge (in another field) are considered private costs. These costs may be included in the income tax return as educational expenses.
• Professional literature
  • If you still have a question about your (possible) business costs, please contact your Bookie.