A Dutch company is subject to 25.5% corporate tax ("vennootschapsbelasting") on its worldwide profits. Certain items of income, however, are exempt from tax and certain costs are non-deductible.
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The worldwide income of a Dutch company is taxable income for Dutch corporate tax purposes. Costs are tax deductible. Thus, a Dutch company is subject to Dutch corporate tax on its worldwide profits.
The 2011 Dutch corporate tax rate is applied at 20% for the taxable amount up to and including EUR 200,000. For the excess taxable amount the rate is 25.0%.
Certain items of income are exempt from Dutch corporate tax. The most important items of income that are exempt are:
Capital gains and dividends derived from a qualifying subsidiary are fully exempt from corporate tax in the Netherlands ("participation exemption"). A subsidiary qualifies for the Dutch participation exemption when:
Income received by a Dutch company from a foreign branch is exempt from Dutch corporate tax provided such branch is a permanent establishment or representative.
In 2009 the White House issued a press release in which The Netherlands were mentioned as tax haven.[1][2] According to various NGO's the Netherlands "can be seen as an intermediary tax haven for foreign corporations".[3][4]