ABOUT
BAS DE KONING
International VAT Experience
Bas de Koning (born 1973) has over 25 years of experience in VAT and other indirect taxes. He started his career as an advisor at a Big 4 tax firm and later worked for many years as an in-house Indirect Tax Director. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience with the practical, day-to-day VAT challenges that businesses face across the globe.
Bas has worked in the Netherlands, the United States, Cyprus, and Switzerland. In his previous roles, he was responsible for managing global indirect tax matters within multinational organisations. His work covered both compliance-related activities—such as mapping transaction flows and coordinating VAT registrations and filings across multiple countries—as well as setting and communicating indirect tax policies and strategies. He was also actively involved in tax lobbying efforts at both national and international levels, including with the European Commission.
SimplyVAT.nl and VATupdate.com
In 2015, Bas launched SimplyVAT.nl, working as a freelance VAT specialist on various projects, delivering training sessions and workshops, and publishing articles and a book on invoicing and VAT.
In 2018, together with a fellow VAT expert, he founded www.VATupdate.com, a website that provides daily updates on VAT and other indirect tax developments worldwide. The weekly newsletter—always featuring a catchy introduction—is written by Bas. Perhaps even more importantly, the website helps him stay up to date with the latest VAT developments around the globe.
Recent Activities
From 2021 until July 2024, Bas was part of Less Grey, a VAT advisory firm based in Alkmaar, the Netherlands. There, he worked with a great team on a wide range of VAT matters, with a particular focus on e-commerce and the associated OSS and IOSS schemes. He was also closely involved with VAT4U, a platform specialising in cross-border VAT reclaims.
In July 2024, Bas decided to leave Less Grey and return to independent VAT consulting.
How Bas Can Help
Bas is available for interim VAT assignments, training sessions and workshops, and of course for VAT advice and compliance support. He also acts as a general fiscal representative for foreign companies with a Dutch VAT registration.
And a Life Beyond VAT…
While VAT plays a major role in his life, Bas is passionate about other things too. A few years ago, he picked up the guitar—still very much a work in progress, but one that boosts his creativity. He also spends his free time biking through the dunes of North Holland (on his mountain or gravel bike), playing tennis, and joining a weekly field hockey match.
“Enthusiastic, technically good, pragmatic,
team player and creative”
His experience includes conducting VAT reviews, ‘translating’ VAT rules into business processes and vice versa, developing ‘Indirect Tax Tools’, managing daily VAT and other indirect tax related matters, developing and giving VAT trainings, discussing / negotiating with tax authorities and tax advisors, as well as with in-house controllers and other departments, and developing indirect tax strategies.
In addition to dealing with indirect taxes, Bas likes playing the guitar, he plays tennis and he can be found on his mountain bike in the North Holland dunes every week.
Contact:
For more information, an extensive CV and references simply send an email to: info@simplyvat.nl
Or you can have a look at my LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bas-de-koning/
BAS IS
ALSO PROUD MEMBER OF
In 2018 he started the website www.vatupdate.com, together with his business partner Kelvin Hulsebos. They both share their enthusiasm for VAT and regard their website not only as the perfect source of information on global VAT news, but also as a hobby.
