Loss relief within a Dutch CIT fiscal unity: the rules

Within a Dutch CIT fiscal unity, a loss of one company is immediately offset in the same year against the profit of another company: horizontal loss relief. Beyond that, the ordinary vertical loss relief of article 20(2) of the Dutch CIT Act applies, subject to the € 1,000,000 plus 50% temporisation rule. Different rules apply across the consolidation date, article 15ae.

Horizontal offset: the core benefit of the fiscal unity

The fiscal unity is a single taxpayer for corporate income tax purposes (article 15(1) of the Dutch CIT Act). As a result, a loss of one company within the year is automatically offset against the profit of another company in the same unity, with no separate offset procedure. This is the single most important tax benefit of the fiscal unity.

Example: BV A incurs a loss of € 300,000 in 2026. BV B, in the same fiscal unity, makes a profit of € 500,000 that same year. Without a fiscal unity, BV B would pay CIT on € 500,000 and BV A would have to carry its loss forward or back separately. Within the fiscal unity, one combined return is filed on € 200,000 of profit (500,000 minus 300,000). BV A's loss is used immediately, without waiting for its own future profit.

Vertical loss relief: article 20 and the € 1 million threshold

If a loss remains for the fiscal unity as a whole after horizontal offset, the ordinary vertical loss relief of article 20(2) of the Dutch CIT Act applies: one year back and unlimited forward. Since 1 January 2022 (the 2021 Tax Plan), relief in any given year is capped at € 1,000,000 plus 50% of taxable profit above that amount. This applies both forward and back.

Example: the fiscal unity has an offsettable loss of € 4,000,000 from an earlier year. In 2027 the unity makes a taxable profit of € 3,000,000. Offsettable is € 1,000,000 plus 50% of (3,000,000 minus 1,000,000) = € 1,000,000, so € 2,000,000 in total. € 1,000,000 of taxable profit remains subject to CIT, and € 2,000,000 of loss stays open for later years.

Before 2022, carry-forward was limited to six years and carry-back to one year; since then, carry-forward is unlimited in time but capped in amount. Losses from financial years from 2013 onward fall under this regime under the transitional rules (KG:011:2023:14).

Across the consolidation date: article 15ae

Losses a company incurred before joining the fiscal unity (pre-consolidation losses) can, after joining, only be offset against the part of the fiscal unity's profit attributable to that specific company (article 15ae(1)(a)). The reverse also applies: a loss of the fiscal unity can only be carried back against pre-consolidation profit of the company to which that loss is attributable (subsection b).

Profit per company is determined for this purpose using the stand-alone approach of article 15ah: as if there were no fiscal unity, to the extent that profit is reflected within the unity. The order of offset is fixed in article 12 of the Fiscal Unity Decree 2003: first horizontal offset within the year, only then pre-consolidation losses, with the € 1,000,000 threshold allocated pro rata across the companies. This topic is worked out in detail, with examples, in offsetting pre-consolidation losses within a fiscal unity.

On deconsolidation: who takes the loss?

When a subsidiary leaves the fiscal unity, it takes its own pre-consolidation losses back with it (article 15af). Losses incurred during the fiscal unity's existence remain with the parent in principle. The subsidiary and parent can jointly request, in the return for the last year the subsidiary was part of the unity, that the fiscal unity loss attributable to the subsidiary go with it. The inspector determines the amount by an appealable ruling (article 15af(3)). Without that joint request, the full fiscal unity loss stays with the parent.

Article 15ag additionally restricts offsetting the parent's pre-consolidation losses: after the subsidiary leaves the unity, those losses are not offset against profit on assets the parent acquired from that subsidiary while the fiscal unity existed, to the extent that profit would have been attributable to the subsidiary without the departure. More on the consequences of leaving the unity, including the 15ai recapture rule on hidden reserves, is in ending a Dutch CIT fiscal unity (deconsolidation).

Article 20a: losses lapse on a change of interest

If the ultimate interest in a company changes to a substantial extent (30% or more), its offsettable losses lapse in principle under article 20a of the Dutch CIT Act. Within the fiscal unity this test is assessed per company separately (article 15(16) and (17) of the Dutch CIT Act): a change of interest in one subsidiary does not automatically affect losses attributable to other companies in the unity.

Apply for a fiscal unity yourself

The eligibility check shows whether your group meets the requirements to benefit from horizontal loss relief; you then download the completed forms for € 39 excl. VAT. Also read the advantages of a Dutch CIT fiscal unity for the full picture. For the return itself, see corporate income tax filing within a Dutch fiscal unity.