What is business asset depreciation?
Depreciation spreads the cost of a business asset across the years you use it. Spend more than €450 on something you will use for over a year?¹ That is a bedrijfsmiddel, a business asset. Each year you deduct part of its cost from your profit, instead of all at once.
This page covers the two rules that apply together to one purchase. The first is the yearly depreciation. The second is the small-scale investment deduction. In Dutch that is the kleinschaligheidsinvesteringsaftrek. Everyone shortens it to KIA.
Two things are not discussed on this page. Business property depreciates under its own regime. And the ondernemersaftrek is a different deduction altogether. It bundles the entrepreneur’s own deductions, such as the zelfstandigenaftrek (self-employed deduction).
Luca edits video for a living, works from home in Utrecht and files his own return. In January he bought a laptop and a camera. Both purchases are used as an example throughout this page.
In short
€450 is the line. You depreciate anything above it that lasts more than a year, instead of deducting it at once.
20% a year is the maximum depreciation on most assets.² For goodwill it is 10%.
Residual value is the minimum book value. You cannot write an asset down past what it will still be worth.
€2,901 is the KIA minimum. Your whole year of qualifying investment has to reach it before any deduction applies.
The KIA adds to the depreciation. It is an extra deduction from your profit in the year you invest.
Are you a starter? Then you may write an asset off freely, even when your year stays under the KIA minimum.
When is a purchase an investment and not a cost?
Anything over €450 that lasts more than a year is an investment.¹ You then spread its cost across its useful life. Everything at or below that line stays an ordinary business cost, deducted in full in the year you pay it.
Whether you measure that €450 with or without VAT depends on your own VAT position. Confirm which side you are on before you decide.
Luca’s laptop cost €2,000 and his camera €1,200. Both exceed the threshold and both last well beyond a year. That makes them business assets, so Luca cannot deduct either one from his profit in one go.
The table below sets out what applies once a purchase crosses the line. Our page about deductible business costs covers costs below the line.
| Rule | What applies |
|---|---|
| The line between a cost and an investment | Over €450 and lasting more than a year makes it a business asset |
| At or below €450 | Deducted in full in the year you pay it |
| Maximum each year | 20% of the purchase cost, so five years at the fastest². Free depreciation routes are the exception |
| Goodwill | 10% a year, so ten years at the fastest² |
| The yearly amount | Purchase cost minus residual value, divided by the useful life |
| Residual value | The book value may never drop below it |
| The year you buy | Only the months the asset was in use |
| When you sell | Sale price above the book value is profit. Below it is a loss |
How do you work out the yearly depreciation?
Take the purchase cost, subtract the residual value and divide by the useful life. That is the straight-line method. Almost every asset follows it.
The purchase cost is more than the price on the invoice. Delivery, installation and anything else you paid to get the asset working count too. You subtract discounts and subsidies, including one that arrives later.
Residual value is what the asset will still be worth when you stop using it. Your book value may never fall below it.² You count useful life in whole years. Take the economic life when that is shorter than the technical one.
In the year you buy, you depreciate only the months the asset was in use. Start using it halfway through the year and you take half of the yearly amount.
Luca expects his laptop to last five years and to be worth about €200 at the end. That gives €2,000 minus €200, divided by five, so €360 a year. So he takes the full €360 this year. That €360 also stays within the 20% yearly cap. The cap is 20% of €2,000, so €400 a year. His book value is now €1,640, the cost minus that €360.
Did you bring equipment from abroad? It usually enters your business at its market value on the day you bring it in.
What is the small-scale investment deduction?
The KIA is an extra deduction from your profit in the year you invest. It does not replace the depreciation. You get it on top.
Two conditions decide whether you get it. Your qualifying investment for the whole year has to be between €2,901 and €398,236.³ And each asset has to cross the same €450 line.⁴
Below €2,901 there is no KIA at all, however much a single asset cost. After the purchase, one time limit still applies. Sell or give away the asset within five years of the start of the calendar year you invested in? Then part of the deduction can come back into your profit.⁵
The size of your investment decides what the deduction is worth.
| Your qualifying investment in the year | What you may deduct |
|---|---|
| €2,900 or less | 0%, you stay under the minimum |
| €2,901 to €71,683 | 28% of the investment |
| €71,684 to €132,746 | €20,072, a fixed amount |
| €132,747 to €398,236 | €20,072 minus 7.56% of the part above €132,746 |
| More than €398,236 | 0%, you go over the ceiling |
What do depreciation and the KIA add up to in one year?
Luca takes €1,476 off his profit in year one. That is €580 of depreciation and €896 of KIA. The two come from different sums.
The depreciation is the two yearly amounts added together. The laptop gives €360. The camera cost €1,200 and also lasts five years. It will be worth about €100 at the end. Take €100 off the €1,200 and divide by five. That is €220 a year.
The KIA looks at the year as a whole. His two purchases come to €3,200 together, which falls between €2,901 and €71,683. That makes the deduction 28% of €3,200, so €896.
The KIA happens once, in the year of the investment. The depreciation continues for four more years after that.
“Most people get the depreciation right and stop there. The investment deduction comes one step later. It only appears once you add up the whole year, which is the step I check first.”
What if you buy just one thing?
A year with only that €2,000 laptop gives no KIA. The minimum looks at your whole year, not at the single purchase. Your qualifying investment stays under €2,901, so only the depreciation applies.
There is a second route for starters. Meet the startersaftrek (starter's deduction) conditions? Then you may depreciate the asset freely. Its Dutch name is willekeurige afschrijving, free depreciation. It means as fast or as slowly as you want, down to the residual value.
The KIA minimum does not apply there. A starter in Luca’s position could write that laptop down to its residual value in one year. The route is open to a sole trader and to a vof (general partnership). It also covers a maatschap (professional partnership) and a cv (limited partnership). It applies to assets you bought in your starter-deduction years or in the run-up year before them.⁶
There is an environmental route as well. The Milieulijst is the government’s environmental investment list. Assets on it can qualify for the MIA (environmental investment deduction) or the VAMIL (free depreciation for environmental investments). Both are separate schemes with their own conditions. We check whether anything you bought is on the list.
One older route no longer helps.
What does this mean for your own purchases?
Add your year together first, then work out each asset separately. The KIA looks at the total. The depreciation looks at each asset on its own. Reading it the other way round is where the deduction goes missing.
Three things are worth checking before you file. Did each purchase really cross the €450 line? Did your year of qualifying investment reach the minimum? And was an earlier year worked out the same way?
Costs that stay below the line are a different question. Meals, conferences and business gifts follow their own limit. We cover that on the page about limited deductible business costs.
In your first year, the tax checklist for starting a business sets out the order to work in. The page about the self-employed tax return shows where all of this goes in your return. And if you would rather have someone read the whole year with you, start with tax advice for entrepreneurs. Luca added his year up first, so his €1,476 ends up in his return.
Common questions about depreciating a business asset
Can I deduct a €400 printer straight away?
Yes, you deduct anything at or below €450 from your profit that same year. It never reaches the balance sheet, so there is nothing to depreciate.
Do I get the KIA on a single €2,000 purchase?
No, a single €2,000 purchase leaves your year under the €2,901 minimum. If you meet the startersaftrek conditions you can still write it down freely.
Can I depreciate faster than 20% a year?
Only through one of the free-depreciation routes. The standard maximum is 20% of the purchase cost each year. Goodwill has its own maximum of 10%.
What happens when I sell an asset I am still depreciating?
You compare the sale price with the book value. Anything above it is added to your profit. Anything below it is a loss. Sold within five years? Then part of the KIA can also come back into your profit.
I bought in October. Do I get a full year of depreciation?
No, you count only the months the asset was in use. October leaves three months, so you take three twelfths of the yearly amount.
Is the KIA the same as the zelfstandigenaftrek?
No, they are different deductions. The KIA follows what you invest. The zelfstandigenaftrek follows the hours you work in your own business.
I brought equipment from abroad when I started here. Can I depreciate it?
Often yes, the asset enters your business at its value on that day. We check that entry value with you before you file.
¹ belastingdienst.nl, Wat is afschrijven? · Accessed
² belastingdienst.nl, Hoe berekent u het bedrag van de afschrijving? · Accessed
³ belastingdienst.nl, Kleinschaligheidsinvesteringsaftrek 2026 · Accessed
⁴ belastingdienst.nl, Kleinschaligheidsinvesteringsaftrek (KIA) · Accessed
⁵ belastingdienst.nl, Desinvesteringsbijtelling · Accessed
⁶ belastingdienst.nl, Willekeurige afschrijving voor startende ondernemers · Accessed
⁷ wetten.overheid.nl, Uitvoeringsregeling willekeurige afschrijving 2001, art. 13 en 14 · Accessed