What are the rules on B2B payment terms under Dutch law?

Dutch term: Betalingstermijnen B2B | Legal basis: Implementation of Directive 2011/7/EU

Dutch law implements the EU Late Payment Directive (2011/7/EU) through articles 6:119a and 6:119b of the Dutch Civil Code and related provisions. For B2B commercial transactions, the statutory default payment term is 30 days from receipt of the invoice. Parties can agree on longer terms, up to a maximum of 60 days, unless a longer period is expressly agreed and is not grossly unfair to the creditor.

If payment is not made by the due date, statutory commercial interest (handelsrente) starts running automatically, without the need for a notice of default. The rate is the ECB refinancing rate plus 8 percentage points (currently over 10% annually). In addition, the creditor is entitled to fixed recovery costs under the WIK (starting at 40 euro per invoice, on a sliding scale). These entitlements apply by operation of law and cannot be reduced to the creditor's detriment.

Why it matters for international businesses

For international businesses trading with Dutch counterparties, the automatic accrual of commercial interest and recovery costs from the payment due date creates strong financial pressure on debtors to pay on time.