BSN at work

No use of BSN for other purposes

Your employer is not allowed to use your BSN for purposes other than exchanging your data with the Tax and Customs Administration. For example, your employer is not allowed to oblige you to use your BSN as a login code. This is not even allowed if you give your consent for this.

No use of BSN without necessity

Do you work for a governmental organisation? Then your employer is not allowed to use your BSN for all kinds of things without a good reason. Though the government is allowed to use your BSN, this is only permitted if it is necessary. Your employer is therefore not allowed, for example, to state your BSN on your access pass.

If your employer wants to perform an access control, there are other ways to do this. For example, the person at the reception desk can ask you to show your identity document. In that case, there is no need to put your BSN on your access pass.

You are a self-employed professional

Does a client hire you, as a self-employed professional, on the basis of a contract for services? And is this client obliged to withhold payroll taxes? In some cases, this client has been subject to an obligation to register the BSN since 1 January 2022. And you therefore have to pass on your BSN to the client. Your client is obliged to withhold if it has a payroll tax number and has to file payroll tax returns.

Obligation to pass on your BSN to the client

You are obliged to pass on your BSN to your client in these 2 situations:

• You are billing without statement of VAT. For example, because you are exempted from VAT.
• You are not billing.

In that case, your client (who is obliged to withhold) is required by law to provide the following data to the Tax and Customs Administration:

• your BSN;
• the amount of the payment;
• your name;
• your address;
• your date of birth.

This is also called the Obligation to communicate information on amounts paid to third parties (in Dutch: Renseigneringsverplichting UBD).

No obligation to pass on your BSN to the client

You do not have to provide your BSN to the client in these 2 situations:

• You are billing with statement of VAT;
• Your client is not obliged to withhold.

In that case, your client does not have an obligation to communicate information and therefore does not need your BSN. You client is obliged, though, to provide the Tax and Customs Administration on request with the following data:

• your citizen service number (Dutch BSN);
• the amount of the payment;
• your name;
• your address;
• your date of birth.

Note: Although it is called a 'contract for services', depending on the contents of that contract there can nonetheless be a relationship of paid employment between you and your client. In the case of paid employment, your client needs your BSN for the payment of payroll taxes. And the client therefore has to register your BSN.

You are a temporary employment agency worker, secondee or payroller

Are you employed by your employer (the supplier or subcontractor) as an employee, but do you carry out work at another employer (the hirer or contractor)? For example, as a temporary employment agency worker, secondee or payroller? Then your employer is allowed to provide your BSN to the hirer or contractor. That party can use it to rely on mitigation of the recipients' liability or vicarious tax liability. This has been arranged in the Implementing Regulations to the Mandatory Use of Citizen Service Numbers(in Dutch).