When a GP practice is taken over, the departing GP may ask for goodwill. Goodwill is the payment for the non-material value of the practice, such as the patient list and the location. There is no statutory ban, but the LHV opposes asking for goodwill.
Whether you pay goodwill is therefore a negotiation. Whatever you pay, you earn it back from the registrations and consultations of your patients. Work that out before you sign.
In short
- Asking for goodwill on a practice transfer has been allowed again since 2006. The LHV opposes it, except for the pharmacy part of a dispensing practice.
- For tax purposes you depreciate goodwill by at most 10% a year. For the seller it is cessation profit.
- The fixed base is the registration fee: in 2026 at most € 21.94 per quarter for a patient under 65. A new practice can start with support from the health insurer.
As at 1 November 2026. We found no official source on the level of usual goodwill amounts. The worked examples are examples, not a standard.
In this article
May a GP ask for goodwill on the transfer?
Yes. It is permitted to ask for or pay goodwill when a practice is taken over. The LHV writes that there is no statutory ban, that you may decide for yourself whether to ask for or pay goodwill, and that the LHV cannot and may not impose a ban (LHV, Goodwill).
The LHV does oppose goodwill. It must not create a barrier for young GPs, can harm cooperation between GPs and, according to the LHV, has a negative effect on the quality of care. The government and health insurers are also against it (LHV, Goodwill).
That ban did exist. Goodwill was abolished from 1 January 1987 after an agreement between the health ministry and the LHV. That was possible because a compulsory pension scheme for GPs had existed since 1973. With the introduction of the Health Insurance Act on 1 January 2006 the statutory ban lapsed (LHV, Goodwill: a short history). In 2017 the minister wrote that goodwill payments are undesirable, but that the government cannot intervene without infringing property rights (ibid.).
What about a dispensing practice?
There goodwill for the pharmacy part is usually customary. The amount is a negotiation. According to the LHV it is usually calculated not on the pharmacy's profit but on the gross continuing annual turnover, because that is more neutral. It consists of the claimed care services, the claimed medicines and the over-the-counter medicines, possibly minus the purchase costs of the medicines (LHV, Goodwill for a dispensing practice).
The LHV also mentions a follow-on right: if you resell the pharmacy part shortly after the takeover, the previous owner can receive part of the extra proceeds. As an example the LHV gives 80% on resale within one year and 60% within two years. These are negotiable examples, not a rule (LHV, Goodwill for a dispensing practice).
How do you earn back the takeover?
From the fixed income per registered patient and from consultations. The NZa sets maximum rates. In 2026 the registration fee per quarter is at most € 21.94 for a patient under 65, € 25.82 from 65 to 75, € 38.88 from 75 to 85 and € 61.14 from 85. A regular consultation of 5 to 20 minutes is at most € 13.40 (NZa, TB/REG-26611-02, set 30 June 2026).
According to the NZa, the registration fee pays for availability, including evening, night and weekend shifts, and part of the care. That makes the turnover of a GP practice more predictable than that of many other practices. The age profile of the patients matters a great deal: a practice with many older patients has a higher registration fee per patient.
When taking over in 2026, watch the rates. The NZa set the amended tariff decision for 2026 on 30 June 2026, valid from 1 January 2026 (NZa, TB/REG-26611-02). Agree in the purchase agreement who receives any back payments or corrections for the period before the transfer.
For orientation: for all GP practices together, Statistics Netherlands counted € 6,478 million in operating income in 2024. Of that, € 1,647 million went to labour costs and € 2,285 million to other costs. The operating result was € 2,446 million, including the income of the practice owners (CBS, table 86104NED, 2024 provisional). That is a CBS average, not a standard for a practice you take over.
How does goodwill work for tax?
You depreciate paid goodwill by at most 10% a year, so over at least ten years (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.30(2)). You may depreciate equipment and furniture faster, by at most 20% a year. So record in the purchase agreement which part of the price is for what.
For the seller, the goodwill is profit on discontinuing the practice. They pay income tax on it, with a cessation deduction of at most € 3,630 (Income Tax Act 2001, article 3.79). Employed staff transfer to the buyer by law when the practice changes hands (Civil Code, article 7:663). For GP assistants and practice nurses the GP care caoapplies.
If you buy with your own sole proprietorship or bv, you are a new care provider under the care rules. Since 1 January 2025 the licence requirement applies to all care providers, except, among others, the solo practitioner in a sole proprietorship. Anyone taking over the care without a licence applies for one as early as possible (Healthcare provider admission, Licence requirement and Questions on the licence requirement).
The licence requirement applies to care under the Health Insurance Act and to medical specialist care. GP care is not medical specialist care, even when the GP performs minor surgery (Healthcare provider admission, Licence requirement). A GP practice that has care provided by others, such as a locum or employed care providers, does fall under the licence requirement, because GP care falls under the Health Insurance Act.
Are there other routes to a practice of your own?
Yes. You can join an existing GP as a partner, or start a new practice without patients, a so-called zero practice. Since an agreement in the Supplementary Care and Welfare Agreement, health insurers help get new practices off the ground. VGZ mentions financial support to bridge the first two years, applied for via VECOZO, with a business plan and a budget among other things (LHV, de Dokter 1/2026, Zero practice).
In a partnership, goodwill is often the sensitive point. A GP told the LHV members' magazine that an earlier partnership foundered on unspoken expectations about goodwill and profit sharing. At his current practice he therefore discussed goodwill as one of the first things (LHV, de Dokter 3/2026).
Whatever you buy, the heart of a practice is the ongoing relationship between GP and patient. A systematic review found in 18 of 22 studies that more continuity of care by doctors went together with lower mortality. All studies were observational, so it is an association, not a proven cause (Pereira Gray et al., 2018). So also ask how patients will be handed over from the departing GP to you. More on the pitfalls of buying in Why does an acquisition often deliver less than the buyer expected?
Sources
- LHV, Goodwill (theme page) (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. lhv.nl
- LHV, Goodwill: a short history (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. lhv.nl
- LHV, Goodwill for a dispensing practice (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. lhv.nl
- NZa, Amended service and tariff decision GP care and multidisciplinary care 2026, TB/REG-26611-02, set 30 June 2026 (in Dutch). puc.overheid.nl
- Statistics Netherlands, Care practices, finances, SBI 2008 (86104NED) (in Dutch), 20 October 2026. opendata.cbs.nl
- Income Tax Act 2001, articles 3.30 and 3.79, 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
- CIBG, Healthcare provider admission, Licence requirement and Questions on the licence requirement (in Dutch), accessed 1 November 2026. toetredingzorgaanbieders.nl
- LHV, de Dokter 1/2026, Zero practice: Hopefully more GPs will now dare to take this step (in Dutch). lhv.nl
- LHV, de Dokter 3/2026, We have arranged mutual cover well (interview, in Dutch). lhv.nl
- Pereira Gray, D.J., Sidaway-Lee, K., White, E., Thorne, A. & Evans, P.H. (2018). Continuity of care with doctors, a matter of life and death? A systematic review of continuity of care and mortality. BMJ Open, 8(6), e021161. doi.org