Sole trader or BV: who wins at your profit?
The "six figures" rule of thumb only holds under one specific set of assumptions. Enter your revenue and costs, choose what you would do with the profit, and see both forms side by side, including the profit at which the advantage tips.
This calculator accompanies the article Sole trader or BV: at what profit does a BV pay off? and uses the same calculation. Note: this is a worked example for orientation and not financial, tax or legal advice.
Business profit: €120,000that is what we compare both forms on
Adjust the BV assumptions
The director salary is a BV obligation: at least €58,000 in 2026, or more if a comparable job pays more. A sole proprietorship has no salary: you withdraw whatever you want privately and always pay tax on the full profit, so there is nothing to configure there.
Annual accounts, a corporate tax return and payroll filings for yourself easily cost €1,500 to €3,000 a year.
Sole proprietorship
€74,940
net per year
| Profit | €120,000 |
| Income tax (after credits and the SME exemption) | -€41,209 |
| Zvw healthcare contribution | -€3,851 |
| Net, immediately yours | €74,940 |
No salary and no dividend: everything the business earns is immediately yours, and immediately taxed.
Private limited company (BV)
€756 ahead€75,696
net per year
| Director salary | €58,000 |
| Income tax and healthcare contribution on the salary | -€18,997 |
| Profit inside the BV (after salary and costs) | €60,000 |
| Corporate income tax | -€11,400 |
| Dividend | €48,600 |
| Box 2 on the dividend | -€11,907 |
| Net through a BV | €75,696 |
Who wins at which profit?
From roughly €113,000 profit per year the BV wins.
Show the curve as a chart
Above the zero line the BV leaves you more, below it the sole proprietorship does.
Calculated with 2026 rates: corporate income tax 19% up to €200,000 and 25.8% above, box 2 24.5% up to €68,843 and 31% above, and a healthcare contribution of 4.9% on up to €79,409. For one entrepreneur without staff, without partner income and without a mortgage.
An indication, not financial advice. Have your own situation calculated before converting anything.
This is a worked example for orientation and explicitly not tax, legal or financial advice. No rights can be derived from it. The choice between a sole proprietorship and a BV also depends on liability, your partner, pensions, losses carried forward and your longer-term plans. Have a tax adviser run your own situation before converting anything.
Why there is no single break-even point
What you do with the profit decides the answer. Distribute everything at once and the BV only wins between roughly €113,000 and €379,000: above that, 25.8% corporate tax plus 31% box 2 together cost more than the top income tax rate with the SME exemption, and a sole proprietorship leaves you more again. Distribute gradually up to the low box 2 bracket and the BV wins from roughly €113,000. Leave the profit inside the BV to invest and the advantage starts around €79,000, because for now you only pay corporate income tax.
A sole proprietorship has no salary: you withdraw whatever you want privately and pay income tax on the full profit, however much or little you take. A director must pay themselves a salary, at least €58,000 or more if a comparable job pays more, and that salary is taxed like regular wages. So the BV advantage is never in the salary, but in what happens to the profit above it.
Money that stays behind in the BV is not yours yet: a latent box 2 claim rests on it that only settles once you distribute. The tool deducts that claim by default to keep the comparison honest; in the assumptions you can switch it off if you leave the money invested in the BV permanently.
No BV yet? Track your profit effortlessly.
With Finq your profit and your tax reserve run alongside you all year, so you never have to guess where you will land.