What is the difference between kosten koper and vrij op naam in the Netherlands?

The abbreviation behind the asking price decides who bears the costs of transferring ownership. Kosten koper means the buyer pays them; vrij op naam means the seller has already included them in the price.

Short answer

Kosten koper (k.k.): the buyer pays the transfer tax, the notary's deed of delivery and its registration at the Kadaster.
Vrij op naam (v.o.n.): the seller bears those items, or they are not due at all - new build is charged 21% VAT instead, so no transfer tax applies.
The financing costs are the buyer's in both cases: the mortgage deed and its registration, the valuation and the mortgage advice.
On a 425,000 euro existing home at the 2% rate, with a mortgage and a buying agent, the kosten koper add up to roughly 16,032 euro - 3.8% of the price, payable from your own savings.

Who pays what

Existing homes are sold kosten koper almost without exception; new build is sold vrij op naam almost without exception. The split runs along the two deeds: the deed of delivery, which makes you the owner, and the mortgage deed, which secures your loan.

Transfer tax: buyer with k.k.; seller with v.o.n., or not due at all on new build.
Notary, deed of delivery, and its registration at the Kadaster: buyer with k.k., seller with v.o.n.
Notary, mortgage deed, and its registration: the buyer, under both.
Valuation, mortgage advice, structural survey and the buying agent: the buyer, under both.

Why new build is vrij op naam

The delivery of a newly built home is compulsorily charged with 21% VAT. Because VAT and transfer tax may not both be levied on the same delivery, the samenloopvrijstelling of article 15, first paragraph, part a of the Wet op belastingen van rechtsverkeer applies. Do not read that as free: the costs of the deed of delivery are already worked into the v.o.n. price, so you pay them indirectly. What remains as kosten koper on new build are mainly the financing costs.

Worked example: an existing home of 425,000 euro

The buyer will live in the home themselves, finances it with a mortgage and engages a buying agent. Only the transfer tax and the Kadaster tariff are fixed; the other amounts are market indications, because notaries, valuers, advisers and agents all work with free tariffs.

Transfer tax at 2%: 8,500 euro.
Notary, deed of delivery: about 850 euro. Market range in 2026 is roughly 500 to 1,200 euro.
Notary, mortgage deed: about 850 euro, on a 2026 market range of roughly 600 to 1,100 euro.
Kadaster: 103.50 euro per electronically registered KIK deed, so 207 euro for two deeds.
Valuation report validated by the NWWI: about 625 euro, within a range of roughly 450 to 800 euro including the NWWI contribution of some 60 euro incl. VAT.
Mortgage advice and brokerage: about 2,500 euro. Large banks charge roughly 2,100 to 3,180 euro, independent advisers usually 1,500 to 3,500 euro.
Buying agent: about 2,500 euro, either as a flat fee of roughly 1,500 to 3,500 euro or as a commission of some 0.8% to 1.5%.
Total: 16,032 euro, i.e. 3.8% of the purchase price - and you cannot add it to the mortgage, so it has to come out of your own savings.

Two details that are often missed

The Kadaster tariff of 103.50 euro applies to electronic registration as a KIK deed. Electronic but not as a KIK deed is 181.00 euro, and on paper 215.00 euro. These three tariffs were left unchanged for 2026 while most other Kadaster tariffs rose by 3.5%.
Only part of these costs is deductible. The financing costs - mortgage advice, valuation, the notary and Kadaster costs of the mortgage deed, and an NHG guarantee fee - are deductible once in your income tax return. The purchase costs are not: transfer tax, the notary and Kadaster costs of the deed of delivery and the buying agent stay entirely at your own expense.

How 4property helps agents

Whether a listing is k.k. or v.o.n. is a property attribute, not a sentence in the advertisement text. In 4property it is stored on the property card together with the photos, the features and the asking price, so every channel shows the same delivery form. The search profiles in the CRM record the buyer's total budget - price plus kosten koper - which is what stops viewings from being booked on homes the buyer cannot actually close on.