Employer of record of een eigen bedrijf in het buitenland: wat is goedkoper, en wanneer stapt u over?

Dit artikel is nog niet in het Nederlands vertaald; de vertaling volgt binnenkort. Hieronder leest u de Engelse versie.

For one hire, or a few, and a short trial, an employer of record (EOR) is usually the cheaper and simpler route. An EOR employs your staff abroad on paper and runs their local payroll for a monthly fee. Your own local company can win later, as headcount and years grow. As of November 2026 the sources show no universal break-even point, because it depends on country, pay, benefits and how long you'll hire there ¹.

Wat is goedkoper: een employer of record of een eigen bedrijf in het buitenland?

For a small team on a short horizon, an EOR is usually cheaper. You pay per head and skip the yearly costs of keeping a company alive. Your own company starts to pay off as headcount grows, but there's no single break-even figure ¹.

Three things decide it: how many people you hire, which country they're in, and how long you expect to stay ¹. Pay and benefits shift it further. If you plan to be in a country for years with a growing team, run the numbers early. If you're testing a market with one person, the EOR usually wins by default.

For the basics of how each model works, see our overzicht: employer of record of eigen lokale vennootschap. This post sticks to the money and the risk.

Wat kost een employer of record echt per medewerker?

The headline EOR fee is only one line of the bill. You also pay the salary, the destination country's employer taxes and contributions, and often extras such as currency markups, deposits and exit fees [6]⁷.

Here are published starting prices, as of autumn 2026:

Then the extras reported across the market, as of October 2026 [7]:

Reported extras: setup of $0-$500 (up to $2,000 in complex cases), a currency (FX) markup of about 1-3%, benefits administration at 5-15% of premiums, termination or offboarding fees of about $150-$1,000, deposits of one to three months of payroll, and some 12-month minimum terms ⁷.

The employer taxes in the destination country aren't a provider fee at all. They're the local statutory cost, and Boundless says it bills fees alongside payroll and statutory costs ⁹. Deel says country-specific costs, deposits and other charges need a quote and contract ⁶, so get them in writing before you compare anything.

Example (illustrative figures): say you hire three people at a fee of US$599 per head per month ⁸. That's 3 × $599 × 12 = $21,564 a year in fees alone, before salaries, employer taxes, FX or any deposit. A deposit of one to three months of payroll ⁷ can tie up a fair chunk of cash on day one. Somebody's accountant will notice.

Wat kost een eigen bedrijf in het buitenland per jaar?

Your own company has a one-off setup cost, then a yearly bill for routine entity costs that keeps coming whether you hire one person or ten. In the Nederland, for example, a small BV is about €3,000-€5,500 to set up and about €2,500-€6,000 a year in routine entity costs, excluding payroll service ³. Most comparisons show the setup and stop there. That's like pricing a car on the showroom sticker and forgetting the insurance.

The yearly items include the accountant, registered office, statutory filings, payroll, sometimes an audit, and in some countries a locally resident director [10]¹¹.

Example (illustrative figures): a small Dutch BV at the top of its range costs about €6,000 a year to run ³. Add payroll for three staff at €33 each a month: 3 × €33 × 12 = €1,188. That's about €7,188 a year, before salaries and employer taxes, on top of €3,000-€5,500 to set up ³.

Closing the company later costs money too, and the sources reviewed don't price a wind-down, so don't assume it's free. Ask for a written estimate of exit costs before you set up.

Waar zitten de grijze gebieden?

Two of the biggest risks here turn on tests with no fixed number. One is whether your business has a taxable presence abroad. The other is where a company is really run from, which is a question of facts rather than a formula. Both can go either way.

Neemt een EOR het risico op een vaste inrichting weg?

Not automatically. A vaste inrichtingVaste inrichtingEen vaste bedrijfsplaats, of iemand die regelmatig contracten sluit, waardoor een land een deel van de winst van een buitenlands bedrijf mag belasten., or PE, is a taxable presence your company can have in another country. An EOR employs the worker, but a PE can still arise from what that worker actually does for you. For example, the UK's own domestic test looks at a fixed place of business or an agent who habitually exercises authority to do business for the company ⁴. That's the UK's test, not a global one: each country applies its own rules and treaties, so check the ones that apply to you.

The UK's own test (Corporation Tax Act 2010, section 1141) asks about two things. One is a fixed place of business through which your business is carried on. The other is an agent who has and habitually exercises authority to do business for your company ⁴. Independent agents are excluded (section 1142) ⁴. That's the UK rule. The country your worker sits in applies its own rules and its treaty with the UK, and some treaties go wider ⁴.

There are three checks worth making, all drawn from the tests above:

1. Contract authority. Can the worker bind your company, and do they do it habitually? ⁴
2. Treaty wording. Some treaties cover a person who plays the principal role leading to routinely concluded contracts, even if someone else signs ⁴.
3. Fixed place. Is the business carried on through a fixed place there? ⁴

If the answer to any of them is yes, that suggests the EOR may be handling payroll without removing your tax exposure. Read the actual treaty, not just the provider's FAQ page.

Waar is een bedrijf dat vanuit het Verenigd Koninkrijk wordt bestuurd feitelijk gevestigd?

A company registered abroad can still be UK tax resident if its centrale leiding en zeggenschapCentrale leiding en zeggenschapWaar de echte strategische beslissingen van een bedrijf worden genomen, meestal daar waar de bestuurders daadwerkelijk overleggen en beslissen. is exercised in the UK ⁵. HMRC looks at where the top-level decisions are really made, and by whom. Where the company was set up doesn't decide it ⁵.

This matters most if you're a UK-resident founder running a foreign company. Hiring a local director doesn't settle it on its own: if the directors only follow someone else's instructions, HMRC looks for the person who actually exercises control ¹². If that person is you, working from the UK, the company's residence could be affected ⁵.

Board meetings help, but they're evidence, not a rule. They carry weight when the board has the controlling power and uses it there. They matter less where the formal meetings happen in one place and the real decisions are made somewhere else ¹².

What to do: make sure the people with real authority use it where the company is based, and that the decisions really are taken there. Keep accurate records of them. Be honest about who really decides.

Hoe ziet een rekenvoorbeeld eruit, en vanaf wanneer is een eigen bedrijf goedkoper?

There's no universal break-even point. It depends on the country, pay, benefits and how long you'll be hiring ¹. You can still see how the numbers move once you write your assumptions down.

Now move the inputs. Many EOR fees are higher than €175. Deel lists EOR from US$599 per employee per month as a starting fee ⁶, and Remote lists US$599 per employee per month on annual contracts ⁸. A higher fee pulls the break-even down. A pricier country pushes it up. Germany's routine annual entity costs are estimated at about €8,000-€15,000 before payroll ¹¹. Singapore requires a locally resident director, with nominee director services estimated at roughly SGD 2,000-4,000 a year, on top of an annual compliance estimate of SGD 1,558-4,060 ¹⁰. The sources reviewed say there is no reliable universal break-even point, as it depends on country, employee pay, benefits and expected duration of hiring ¹.

Build your own version with your real quotes. Then add the costs this table leaves out.

Kunt u medewerkers in het buitenland in beide gevallen secundaire arbeidsvoorwaarden bieden?

Yes. Under an EOR, though, benefits usually come through the provider and can carry a markup. Reported benefits administration charges run about 5-15% of premiums ⁷.

Say you buy health cover costing €2,000 a year per person. A 5–15% admin charge adds €100–€300 per person a year ⁷. With your own company you arrange benefits locally and pay the provider directly, but you also take on the admin yourself, so price that time too.

Whichever route you pick, ask for benefits costs as a separate line in the quote. "Benefits included" can mean a lot of things.

Wanneer is overstappen verstandig, en voor wie is dit niet bedoeld?

Switch when your own numbers show the entity is cheaper over the period you'll actually stay, and you can run it properly. That means real local management and clean paperwork. The sources reviewed say there is no reliable universal break-even point, as it depends on country, employee pay, benefits and expected duration of hiring ¹. Reported EOR terms can include 12-month minimums and termination or offboarding fees ⁷, so plan the exit from the EOR before you sign up with it.

There are three things to check before you move:

1. Minimum term. Some EOR contracts have 12-month minimums ⁷.
2. Exit charges. Termination or offboarding fees are reported at about $150-$1,000 ⁷.
3. Deposits. Deposits of one to three months of payroll are reported as an EOR extra ⁷, so confirm when you get yours back. Remote says it has no standard deposit, but a refundable reserve may be required in some circumstances ⁸.

For the basics of each route, see our overzicht: employer of record of eigen lokale vennootschap.

FAQ

Is an employer of record cheaper than setting up my own company? For one or a few hires, or a short pilot, usually yes. An own entity can become cheaper as headcount and time grow, but there's no universal break-even ¹.

What does an employer of record cost per employee? Published monthly charges run about $199–$699 per employee, or about 10–20% of salary, before salary and employer taxes ². These figures aren't a verified market average.

Does an EOR avoid permanent establishment risk? Not automatically. A PE can arise if the worker has and habitually uses authority to do business for your company, and some treaty wording is broader than the UK test ⁴.

Can a UK founder run a foreign company from the UK without it becoming UK resident? Only if central management and control isn't exercised in the UK. HMRC looks at where the top decisions are really made and by whom [5]¹².

What hidden costs come with an employer of record? Reported extras include deposits of one to three months of payroll, FX markups of about 1–3%, benefits markups of 5–15% and termination fees ⁷. Check the order form and the main contract.

What does it cost to run a small company abroad? A small Dutch BV is estimated at about €3,000–€5,500 to set up and €2,500–€6,000 a year before payroll ³. German subsidiaries are estimated higher ¹¹. These are planning ranges, not quotes.

Wat u hierna kunt doen

The right answer depends on your own numbers: where your staff are, what they're paid, how long you'll stay, and where you make decisions. You can plan een gratis gesprek to have it mapped out.