If you move from a sole proprietorship to a practice bv, the bv gets its own KVK number. Under the care rules the bv is therefore a new care provider. It needs its own licence before it provides care, and its own AGB code to be able to claim.
That also applies if you are the only physiotherapist in the bv. The exception for the solo practitioner only applies to the sole proprietorship. So plan the switch as a new start, with a few months of preparation.
In short
- A bv providing Zvw care needs a licence. With a different KVK number you must in any case apply for a new licence: € 725, decision period in principle 8 weeks.
- A new KVK number also means a new AGB code with Vektis, and the bv publishes an annual accountability report every year before 31 May.
- For tax purposes you can convert without settling. After that you pay yourself a customary salary of at least € 58,000 (2026) and the bv pays corporate income tax, without the care exemption.
As at 1 November 2026. The examples are about physiotherapy, but the care rules also apply to other allied health practices.
In this article
Does a practice bv need a Wtza licence?
Yes, if the bv provides care covered by the Health Insurance Act, such as physiotherapy from the basic package. An institution that provides or arranges Zvw care must have a licence (Healthcare Providers Admission Act, article 4). The act calls every legal entity that provides care on a business basis an institution (Wtza, article 1).
The exception for the solo practitioner does not help you. According to the CIBG, the licence requirement does not apply to solo practitioners and freelancers in a sole proprietorship (Healthcare provider admission, Licence requirement). But a legal entity can never be a freelancer (Healthcare provider admission, Freelancers). A bv with only you as physiotherapist is therefore still subject to the licence requirement.
If your sole proprietorship already had staff, it probably had a licence by operation of law since 1 January 2025. That does not transfer to the bv. The CIBG writes: if the change of legal form gives you a different KVK number, you must in any case apply for a new licence (Healthcare provider admission, Questions on the licence requirement).
How and when do you apply for the licence?
Well before the bv treats its first patient. You apply through the CIBG's online portal, using eHerkenning at level 2+ or higher. The application costs € 725 and is only processed once you have paid. The decision period is in principle 8 weeks and can be extended once (Healthcare provider admission, Applying for a licence).
Allow for extra questions. The CIBG can request a certificate of conduct (VOG) for the bv or the director, or start a Bibob integrity check (Healthcare provider admission, Applying for a licence). If the CIBG asks for information, the decision period stops until you have provided it.
A practical order is: first set up and register the bv, then apply for the licence, and only after the decision transfer the practice to the bv. Until then the sole proprietorship continues to provide the care.
What happens to your AGB code and your contracts?
The bv gets a new AGB code. The AGB code is the code you use to claim from health insurers. Vektis writes that the KVK number is an identifying key for the AGB code and cannot be changed. A new AGB code must be requested for a new KVK number (Vektis, AGB Registration and Control, version 1.90, 8 September 2026).
Ask your health insurers in good time how they transfer a contract to the bv, and from which date the bv can claim. Make sure there is no gap between the sole proprietorship's last claim and the bv's first. Such a gap costs money straight away.
Your staff move with you to the bv. On the transfer of an undertaking, the rights and obligations under the employment contracts pass by law to the new employer (Civil Code, article 7:663). Your employees therefore keep their pay, years of service and agreements. Register the bv as a new employer with the Tax Administration for payroll taxes, and have the employed physiotherapists update their own registration with SPF.
Must the bv publish an annual accountability report?
In principle, yes. A bv in principle publishes an annual accountability report via DigiMV every year by 31 May (Annual accountability care, Private legal entity). For a sole proprietorship it depends on one question: did you employ care staff or outsource care, for example to a locum? If not, you do not have to (Annual accountability care, Sole proprietorship).
For a small bv there is a lighter regime. You are a micro care provider if for two consecutive years you meet at least two of three criteria: a balance sheet total of at most € 450,000, net turnover of at most € 900,000 and fewer than 10 FTE employees. You then submit no notes, no management report and no auditor's report (Annual accountability care, Micro care provider).
What changes for tax and your pension?
You can transfer the practice into the bv without settling tax. On request the business is then not treated as discontinued, provided you become a shareholder in the same proportion and meet the conditions (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.65). The inspector decides on that request by a formal decision.
After that the bv pays corporate income tax on its profit. The care exemption in corporate income tax usually does not help a practice bv. According to the Tax Administration a natural person cannot be a qualifying shareholder, so the requirement on how the profit is used is not met (Tax Administration knowledge group, KG:211:2025:2).
As owner-director (dga) you pay yourself a customary salary. In 2026 that is at least € 58,000, or more if a comparable job or your best-paid employee earns more (Tax Administration, Salary and substantial interest). Whether that fits the profit of your practice can be checked with the owner-director salary calculator.
Your pension with SPF continues, but on a different basis. As dga your pensionable income is your dga salary, with a maximum of € 47,765 for a full working week in 2026. Your personal pension account receives 10% of the pensionable base, the same as for a self-employed physiotherapist (SPF, Pension rules 2026, articles 4.1.1 and 4.2.1).
When does a bv pay off for a physiotherapist?
Mainly if the profit is well above your customary salary and you leave part of it in the bv. With a lower profit the extra costs and rules weigh more heavily: licence, accountability report, payroll and annual accounts for the bv. How the trade-off works in general is explained in Converting a sole proprietorship into a bv: when does it pay? and in the sole proprietorship or bv calculator.
For orientation: for all physiotherapy practices together, Statistics Netherlands counted € 2,559 million in operating income and € 866 million in operating result in 2024 (CBS, table 86104NED, 2024 provisional). That result includes the income of all practice owners in a sole proprietorship or partnership. It is a CBS average, not a standard for your practice.
That tax plays a role is also shown by research. A study using data from European countries found a large and significant effect: when corporate tax falls, more entrepreneurs move their business into a company (De Mooij and Nicodème, 2008). For you it is about the calculation in your own situation, including the care rules.
Sources
- Healthcare Providers Admission Act (Wtza), articles 1 and 4, in force from 5 July 2025 (in Dutch). wetten.overheid.nl
- CIBG, Healthcare provider admission: Licence requirement, Freelancers, Applying for a licence and Questions on the licence requirement (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. toetredingzorgaanbieders.nl
- Vektis, AGB Registration and Control (in Dutch), version 1.90, 8 September 2026, section 3.4. vektis.nl
- CIBG, Annual accountability care: Sole proprietorship, Private legal entity and Micro care provider (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. jaarverantwoordingzorg.nl
- Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.65, in force from 1 January 2026 (in Dutch). wetten.overheid.nl
- Civil Code Book 7, article 663, in force from 1 July 2026 (in Dutch). wetten.overheid.nl
- Tax Administration knowledge groups, KG:211:2025:2 Care exemption applicable to Cooperative X? (in Dutch), 3 April 2025. kennisgroepen.belastingdienst.nl
- Tax Administration, Salary and substantial interest (customary salary rule) (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Physiotherapists Pension Fund (SPF), Pension rules 2026, version 2026.1 (in Dutch). fysiopensioen.nl
- Statistics Netherlands, Care practices, finances, SBI 2008 (86104NED) (in Dutch), 20 October 2026. opendata.cbs.nl
- De Mooij, R.A. & Nicodème, G. (2008). Corporate tax policy and incorporation in the EU. International Tax and Public Finance, 15(4), 478-498. doi.org