Turbo liquidation: a quick way to stop, but not entirely without risk for you as a director

Liability Law, Corporate Law

6 May 2026

Turbo liquidation: a quick way to stop, but not entirely without risk for you as a director

Stelt u zich eens voor: u werkt al jaren met dezelfde zelfstandige. Hij stuurt facturen, factureert btw en heeft een eigen kvk-nummer. Toch krijgt u in 2026 ineens vragen van de Belastingdienst over de aard van uw samenwerking. Hoe heeft het zo ver kunnen komen?

For many SME entrepreneurs, turbo liquidation can be an attractive way to wind up a company quickly and efficiently. The advantage of a turbo liquidation is that the process is fast, relatively cheap and administratively less burdensome. The route seems simple: no activities and no assets left, so the private limited company (BV) can be dissolved immediately. Nevertheless, legal risks lurk behind this seemingly straightforward process. Especially since the introduction of the Temporary Turbo Liquidation Transparency Act, it is important that directors properly understand the rules of the game, so that legal risks can be avoided.

What is a turbo liquidation?

A turbo liquidation is an accelerated way of dissolving a legal entity. Unlike a regular dissolution, the winding-up phase is skipped in a turbo liquidation. This means the dissolution resolution directly results in the legal entity ceasing to exist, without first having to convert all assets into cash. The company can then be immediately deregistered from the Trade Register of the Chamber of Commerce.

The condition, however, is that at the moment of dissolution there are no assets left. That concept must be interpreted broadly: it concerns not only liquid funds, but also other assets such as inventory, receivables, shareholdings, and so on. If assets are still present, turbo liquidation is not permitted and a regular winding-up must first take place.

Abuse and the Temporary Turbo Liquidation Transparency Act

At the same time, turbo liquidation has in practice also given rise to concerns. It is namely possible to dissolve a legal entity while debts are still outstanding. Creditors are then left with an empty company that no longer exists, which limits their options for recovery.

To combat abuse of turbo liquidation, the Temporary Turbo Liquidation Transparency Act was introduced on 15 November 2023. This Act remains in force to this day.

This Act requires directors to provide more openness about the financial winding-up of the legal entity. For example, the board must file a number of financial documents with the Chamber of Commerce within fourteen days of the dissolution. These include a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenses for the current financial year and, if necessary, the preceding year. In addition, the board must explain why there are no longer any assets, how any assets were realised and distributed prior to the dissolution, and why creditors were left unpaid. Any outstanding annual accounts must also still be published. Creditors must then be actively informed, so that they can inspect the documents and determine their position.

The idea behind this arrangement is that creditors gain better insight into the course of events surrounding the winding-up of the company and, where necessary, can take action.

Risks for directors

Directors who fail to comply with the above obligations run the risk of sanctions. Failure to meet the accountability obligation can be classified as an economic offence and can lead to a fine of up to €22,500 (or detention of six months). In addition, at the request of the Public Prosecution Service, the court can impose a management ban. This means that a director may not act as a director or supervisory director of a company for a certain period – up to a maximum of five years.

Also apart from this relatively new legislation, the general framework of director liability continues to apply. Directors can namely be held personally liable if they fail to comply with their statutory (accountability) obligations.

What should you, as a director, watch out for?

For SME entrepreneurs, turbo liquidation remains a useful instrument, provided it is applied carefully. It is essential first to properly establish in advance that there are genuinely no assets left. In addition, the board must be able to explain and substantiate how the company’s assets were wound up.

The new transparency obligations make clear that (financial) accountability is not a formality, but an essential part of the process. Without proper substantiation, a turbo liquidation can be called into question afterwards.

Finally, it is important to keep an eye on the position of creditors. A turbo liquidation must not be used as a means to deliberately disadvantage them. Precisely when debts are still outstanding, extra care is required.

Would you like to know more about your obligations in a turbo liquidation, or do you suspect that a creditor has misused a turbo liquidation to limit your options for recovery? Please contact the corporate lawyers of The Legal Company via info@thelegalcompany.nl or 020-345 0152.

De afgelopen jaren stonden in het teken van de Wet VBAR, het wetsvoorstel dat een einde moest maken aan onduidelijkheid over de zzp’er. Het kabinet heeft delen van dat voorstel inmiddels geschrapt. Op het eerste gezicht is dat goed nieuws: minder regels, minder administratieve last. Maar in de praktijk blijven dezelfde toetsen overeind.

“De inhoud van de samenwerking is leidend, niet wat er op papier staat.”

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Voor uw praktijk betekent dit drie dingen. Een: leg de samenwerking duidelijk vast, met aandacht voor de inhoud. Twee: voorkom dat een zzp’er feitelijk werkt als werknemer. Drie: wees voorbereid op een controle, en weet hoe u de relatie kunt herzien als dat moet.

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