R&D tax credit (WBSO)

Do you run a company in the Netherlands that carries out research and development (R&D) work (Speur- en Ontwikkelingswerk, S&O)? You may be able to lower the costs for your development and research projects with the WBSO scheme.

What is the WBSO scheme?

The WBSO R&D tax credit scheme is meant to stimulate innovation. With the WBSO part of your costs and expenses for R&D projects are compensated via your tax return.

Do you employ staff? Then the WBSO compensates part of your wage costs and expenses through the tax deduction for research and development (in Dutch).

Are you a self-employed entrepreneur? You can deduct an (annually set) fixed amount for R&D when filing your income tax return.

When do you qualify for the WBSO?

If you want to apply for the WBSO R&D tax credit your company and your project have to meet certain requirements.

Eligible companies are:

• entrepreneurs who are subject to income tax and meet the Tax Administration’s hours criterion (in Dutch). They must spend at least 500 hours on R&D per calendar year.
• entrepreneurs who are subject to income tax and who have employees who do research and development work
• companies subject to corporate income tax (such as private and public limited companies) with employees doing research and development work

Public knowledge institutions are not eligible for the WBSO.

Conditions for R&D projects

The conditions for the WBSO scheme vary by type of business and project. In general your R&D project must meet several conditions, among others:

• You develop a product, production process, or software programme. Or you perform technical scientific research (TWO)
• Your research or development project is carried out within the EU.
• you solve technical problems yourself, or, in case of technical scientific research, you seek an explanation for a phenomenon

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency's (RVO) website offers more information on the various conditions for the WBSO.

To see if you are eligible for R&D tax credit, you can use the WBSO Quickscan (pdf). To find out how much tax credit you are entitled to, read more about the calculation of the tax credit benefit.

How to apply?

You can apply for WBSO to RVO up to and including the last day of each month. You need eHerkenning level 3 to apply. You can apply for R&D tax credit at any time, but you must always submit an application in advance. If you meet all the requirements, you will receive an R&D declaration from RVO to give to the tax authorities.

You can apply for the WBSO for 2025 until 30 September 2025. Go to the WBSO application calendar at RVO (in Dutch).

For more information on the R&D tax credit (WBSO) see the Tax and Customs Administration's Payroll Tax Allowances.

Use Message Box

If you have a Message Box account, you can receive mail about your WBSO application (WBSO orders) digitally. Message Box is a secure email system that enables you as an entrepreneur to exchange digital messages with Dutch government agencies.