UPDATE | Dutch tax measures in light of corona virus | 12 May

Due to the corona virus the Dutch government decided to take extra economic measures to protect jobs and income and to mitigate the impact on the self-employed workers, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. Please find below an overview of the main Dutch tax measures. We also published on overview on Dutch employment related measures: UPDATE | Dutch employment related measures in light of coronavirus.

Dutch tax measures to stimulate cash flow as per 12 May 2020

Special deferral of payment
It is possible to opt for a special deferral of payment with the Dutch tax authorities. This may include deferral of payment of Dutch personal income tax, corporate income tax, value added tax, payroll tax, games of chance tax, insurance tax, landlord tax, environmental taxes (EB / ODE, coal tax, waste tax, tap water), excise duty (mineral oils, alcohol and tobacco), consumption tax of non-alcoholic drinks and comparable taxes in the Caribbean Netherlands. The eased measures apply until 19 June 2020. For the first three months extension, it is no longer required to immediately motivate (by way of a statement from a third-party expert) that the entrepreneur has got into payment problems due to the coronavirus. Collection will be stopped upon receipt of the request. The requests will be further assessed substantively at a later date.

A third-party statement is required to extend a period for longer than three months if the total tax debt exceeds EUR 20,000. For tax debts of less than EUR 20,000 a substantive test remains necessary. This could include supplying turnover figures.

Deferral of payment of customs duties may also be requested for businesses in payment difficulties. Dividend tax is excluded for this scheme. 

For energy suppliers, the energy tax and surcharge for sustainable energy due and VAT hereon, will be deferred for deliveries in the months April, May and June 2020. 

In addition, the Dutch tax authorities have added a form on their website by which deferral of payment can be requested for all taxes at once. Please note that a large part of the taxes must be explicitly stated in the form.

Tax interest and recovery interest
The recovery interest will be reduced for three months from 4% to 0.01%. In addition, the tax interest rate will be reduced to 0.01% as soon as possible for all tax debts. Originally the tax rate was 8% for corporate income tax and 4% for other taxes. It is expected that the tax interest rate will be reduced from 1 June 2020 and for the personal income tax from 1 July 2020.

If during the period that this measure applies, due to the reduction of the recovery interest rate, it is virtually no longer possible to claim the payment reduction, an objection can be made against the decision in which the amount of the payment reduction is determined, for which the difference will then be granted.

Temporary regulation no default penalty
In the coming period (this period is not specified) the Dutch tax authorities will refrain from imposing default penalties for late payment. In addition, imposed default fines are reversed. An explicit request has been made to submit tax returns in time.

Release G account
An additional measure has been taken for entrepreneurs who use a blocked account (so-called G account) to pay wage tax and VAT. The G account is released in the amount for which special deferral payment has been granted. An instruction for applying for the (additional) release will be placed on the website of the Tax authorities.

Corporate income tax

Decrease preliminary assessment
If applicable, preliminary personal income tax and corporate income tax assessments for the year 2020 may be reduced upon request. The tax inspector shall grant the reduction upon request. It is noted that it may also be possible to reduce the 2019 preliminary tax assessment. Reference is made to the topic below ‘fiscal corona reserve’.

Fiscal corona reserve
For corporate income tax purposes, companies are allowed to charge the expected loss for the year 2020 related to the corona crisis as a fiscal corona reserve to reduce taxable profit over 2019.

This arrangement makes it possible to already set off losses of the year 2020 against the profit in the year 2019. This was previously only possible after filing the corporate income tax return for the year 2020. In a recent policy decision, more guidance has been provided for this reserve.

Requirements:

1. There is an expected "corona-related loss" in the fiscal year 2020. This is the case, for example, insofar as there is a loss due to the corona measures taken by the government.
2. The expected corona-related loss cannot exceed the total loss that the taxpayer expects for the fiscal year 2020. Furthermore, the taxpayer is not able to form a corona reserve is the estimated result in 2020 is a profit. The taxpayer has to calculate the best estimate of the expected amount of the corona-related loss.
3. The addition the corona reserve in the financial year 2019 amounts to a maximum of the profit for the financial year 2019 that would apply without the addition to this reserve.
4. The reserve will be fully recognized in the profit of the 2020 fiscal year. When recognizing the tax corona reserve in the profit, the same principles of valuation should apply when determining the profit as when this reserve is formed in the preceding financial year.
5. The corona reserve is included in the ‘other reserves’ in the corporate income tax return. The release in the financial year 2020 is included as a withdrawal in this section in the 2020 corporate income tax return.

Reduce 2019 corporate income tax paid
The taxpayer who wishes to invoke this approval can reduce (part of) the 2019 preliminary corporate income tax assessment, by requesting a reduced preliminary assessment. If the taxpayer has already filed a corporate tax return for the 2019 financial year and wishes to make use of this approval, the taxpayer can submit a supplementary filing of the 2019 corporate income tax return.

Financial years deviating from calendar years
Taxpayers who have a financial year that is not equal to the calendar year can form a fiscal corona reserve in the last financial year ending in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2020. In that case, the reserve will be fully recognized in profit at the latest in the financial year after the financial year in which the reserve has been formed. The conditions of approval apply accordingly.

Term retroactive corporate merger, legal merger, demerger, silent conversion and silent return
The retroactive period for these facilities will be extended by three months if this period expires in the period from 1 March 2020 up to and including 31 May 2020.

VAT

Reclaim value added tax (VAT) paid
If customers can no longer meet their obligations, under certain conditions VAT may be reclaimed.

When a recipient of supply of goods or services is not in the position the fulfill in whole or in part his/her payment obligation, it is possible to reclaim the VAT paid in connection thereto. This refund of VAT must be claimed by the entrepreneur in the filing period wherein the right to reclaim the VAT has arisen. With respect to non-payment the right to reclaim the paid VAT is deemed to exist on the moment that it is clear that the recipient will not fulfill its payment obligation.

Request for settlement of VAT with payroll taxes
On request, the payroll tax to be paid can be set off against a refund for VAT. We refer to the website of the Tax Authorities (in Dutch).

Providing healthcare personnel
Under certain conditions, providing of healthcare staff to certain institutions and establishments remains outside the levy of VAT. In the light of this measure, providing medical supplies and equipment for free to these institutions and establishments, in certain cases, also remains outside the levy of VAT and does not affect the levy or deduction of VAT for the entrepreneur who supplies these goods.

Personal income tax

Hour criterion
Some entrepreneurial facilities can only be claimed if the hour criterion is met. The fact that entrepreneurs could lose some of these facilities as a result of the coronavirus is considered undesirable and unjust. For the period from 1 March 2020 up to and including 31 May 2020, it is assumed that entrepreneurs have spent at least 24 hours a week on their business, even if it was not actually spent on the company due to the corona crisis.

With regard to the hourly criterion for the start-up deduction in the event of disability, it is assumed that the entrepreneurs have spent 16 hours a week on their business during this period.

An additional arrangement will be made for seasonal entrepreneurs, where the peak of their activities falls within this period, it is deemed to have spent an equal number of hours in the same period as in 2019.

Postponement bill ‘excessive lending from your own company’
The government decided to postpone the entry into force of the law against excessive borrowing from your own company by one year in order to accommodate holders of a substantial interest. Due to the crisis, it can currently be difficult to pay off the debt to your own company.

Payment break for mortgage obligations
Under certain conditions, it is approved that a temporary postponement of the payment of the repayment and interest for the mortgage with regard to the home acquisition debt (a payment break) will not lead to undesirable tax consequences. Two options are introduced to make up for the repayment delay in certain cases in a manner other than that laid down in tax legislation. This will apply to taxpayers who agreed to a payment break of no more than six months between March 12 and June 30, 2020, which will start on July 1, 2020 at the latest.

Under conditions to be determined, these arrangements can also be used for payment breaks that have been agreed to since 12 March and may have been partially implemented in the period prior to the publication of the decision.

Payroll tax

“WW” (social contributions)
For the WW, we refer to our publication on Dutch employment related measures: UPDATE | Dutch employment related measures in light of coronavirus.

Payroll tax liability
Be alert in case of hired staff. If company seconding staff is no longer able to fulfill its obligations to pay payroll taxes, the company hiring staff may be held liable for the payroll taxes.

Normative deemed salary
If the companies of substantial interest holders are faced with large decline in turnover, the normative salary which they normally are deemed to receive may be reduced with the decline in turnover.

The decrease in turnover is calculated as follows: normative deemed salary for 2020 = the normative deemed salary for 2019 x the turnover for the first four months of 2020 / the turnover for the first four months of 2019.

Requirements:

1. The current account debt or dividend does not increase due to the lower normative deemed salary.
2. If the substantial interest employee(s) actually received more wages than follows from the above calculations, the higher wages apply. This can occur, for example, if a private limited company makes use of the Temporary emergency bridging measure for the preservation of employment (NOW). Any benefit under the Temporary Bridging Scheme for Self-Employed Entrepreneurs (Tozo) does not constitute wages received from employment and therefore has no consequences for the normative deemed salary.
3. This approval does not apply insofar as turnover in 2019 or 2020 is affected by other special causes, such as incorporation, strike, merger, demerger and extraordinary results.

Due to this emergency measure, it is possible that the usual wages will be lower than the statutory minimum normative deemed salary.

Work-related costs scheme
The free space for the first EUR 400,000 of the wage costs per employer will be increased once and temporarily from 1.7% to 3% for the year 2020. This offers employers who have the space, to meet their employees during this time. Above this amount, the space is 1.2%. The free space for 2020 is now EUR 12,000 instead of EUR 6,800.

Easing of administrative obligations
The tax authorities are allowed to take a flexible position in the event that an employer or employee cannot reasonably comply with a legal administrative obligation, or fails to do so in time or in full, and rectifies it as soon as possible.

Travel allowance
During the operation of these measures, the employer is allowed to not attach any consequences to a change in the travel pattern of an employee with regard to the fixed travel allowance, whether or not with subsequent calculation.

Social Security
For employees who live outside the Netherlands but work in the Netherlands, working from home could in principle cause a shift in the country where these employees work and are covered by social insurance. For example, if because of the coronavirus, they now temporarily perform their work abroad, which they normally perform in the Netherlands.

As of March 20, 2020, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) announced on its website that because of the coronavirus temporary working from home in another country has no consequences for social insurance for workers who normally live or work across the border in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland. We refer to the SVB website.