Avoid false self-employment
Do you work as a zzp'er (freelancer or self-employed professional)? Or do you want to hire a zzp'er for an assignment? You must assess together whether or not the zzp'er is allowed to carry out the assignment. From 2025, the Netherlands Tax Administration will carry out stricter checks. Find out how to avoid false self-employment.
What is false self-employment?
False self-employment means that someone carries out an assignment as a self-employed professional, but according to the rules is actually an employee.For example, because the zzp'er cannot determine themselves when or how to do the work. The client is actually the employer but does not pay payroll taxes. Clients and contractors are mutually obliged to avoid false self-employment under the Wet DBA (the Employment Relationships Deregulation Act).
Enforcement of Wet DBA
As of 1 January 2025, the Netherlands Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) will fully enforce the Wet DBA (in Dutch). Do you hire a zzp'er? But is this zzp'er actually an employee in false self-employment? You may get a fine and a post-tax assessment. You need to be able to prove together that the relationship is not one of employment.
Check whether you have an employer-employee relationship
To know which type of contract to use for an assignment, you must pay attention to the way the work is carried out. Use the tool developed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) to determine the right type of contract for the assignment.
Go to the tool (in Dutch)
Do you want to hire a zzp'er, but are you not sure whether this is actually a zzp assignment? You can also use the online Assessing Employment Relationship module for a complete analysis.
No new model agreements
The Netherlands Tax Administration no longer assesses new model agreements (in Dutch). A model agreement contains agreements about the relationship between clients and contractors.
Are you still working with an approved model agreement? You may continue to use it until the expiration date. Existing agreements will not be renewed. The agreement is only valid if what is agreed in it is also put into practice.
Mediation, temping, payrolling, posting, or direct hire
Are more than 2 parties involved in the creation of a contract and/or carrying out an assignment? You must evaluate the employment relationship for that situation too. Find out what the employment relationship is for every situation (in Dutch).
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Questions relating to this article?
Please contact the Netherlands Tax Administration, Belastingdienst