Wed, 06 May 2026 15:16:52 +0200 Wed, 06 May 2026 15:16:52 +0200 ContentFeeder 2.0 As a self-employed or SME, you want your business to grow. But growth costs money because investing is not for free. Fortunately, the tax authorities have different deductions that give you a push.

We list the main deductions:

SME exemption: Every entrepreneur may deduct 14% of his profit, which reduces taxable profit.
Self-deduction: If you worked for more than 1225 hours in one year, you can deduct 7280 euros from your taxable profit. 
Starter deduction: In the first three years, starters can make up a total of 2123 Euro extra deductions, in addition to the self-employed deduction. The exact rules...]]> Mon, 29 May 2017 12:25:03 +0200
Remember the care free days of childhood when the most stressful part of vacation was just the wait to get there? Thoughts of homework not finished or upset teachers never crossed your mind. Fast forward to present day where the days leading up to vacation have you feeling stressed and guilty. There is work left undone, someone else is taking over your responsibilities and there is no way they will do the same level of work as you. Taking vacation can almost be taboo at some companies, as if putting in 100-hourworkweeks makes for a better employee. Not the case!...]]> Mon, 04 Jul 2016 14:42:50 +0200             Since the third quarter of 2014 the production in the Dutch construction sector is growing faster than the average in the European Union, reports CBS, partly on the basis of Eurostat numbers.
In the first quarter of 2016, construction output in the Netherlands rose by 17%. That is considerably more than the average construction output in the EU, which increased in this period 7% above the lowest point of early 2013. Between early 2013 and mid-2014, the growth of the Dutch construction output remained below the European average.
In the EU the construction field is now 5.4% of the...]]> Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:30:00 +0200
Positive reinforcement is"any pleasant or desirable consequences that follows a response and increases the possibility that the response will be repeated" (Wood& Boyd, 2005). This technique is used to stimulate and to strengthen new behaviors by offering rewards and incentives, as opposed to eliminating them.

Positive reinforcement thereby uses the reward system, which is a collection of brain structures attempting to monitor and control behavior by bringing about pleasurable effects. Rewards can be most useful in the workplace through monetary bonuses, promotions, praise, paid holiday leave, and simple attention. Giving rewards, by themselves, to employees may not result in the...]]> Mon, 04 Jul 2016 14:17:38 +0200

According to the research by labour market lawyers, the new legislation on redundancy and flexible employment has failed to boost job security for temps, as it was supposed to do.
Lodewijk Asscher introduced the new laws in 2015 and their aim was to encourage companies to put more staff on permanent contracts. However, the rules are so rigid that companies are actually being discouraged from taking on staff, according to the research, which involved over 1,000 lawyers and other specialists.
The new rules reduce the legal differences between traditional and temporary staff, and give temps more rights to severance pay...]]> Mon, 04 Jul 2016 10:01:36 +0200 The volume of investments in tangible fixed assets grew by 8.4% in April 2016, relative to the same month last year, reports Statistics Netherlands CBS. The increase is more substantial than in the preceding month mostly in residential property.
Investment data are not adjusted for calendar effects. The number of working days was the same in April 2016 as in April 2015. According to Statistics Netherland's Investment Radar, the investment climate in the Netherlands is more favourable in June than in April and May.
Residential property investments rose further in April. Investments in infrastructural projects, aircraft, trucks and trailers also...]]> Mon, 27 Jun 2016 12:01:25 +0200   Europe is in panic since the British majority voted for leaving the European Union. What does this means for the Netherlands and the Dutch economy?
According to new figures from the national statistics office CBS, the Netherlands earned €20.5bn last year exporting goods and services to Britain, the equivalent of 3% of GDP. This makes the UK the Netherlands’ second most important export market after Germany. Belgium is in third place, followed by the US and France, the CBS said.

A British withdrawal from the EU will cost the Dutch economy €10bn in lost income by 2030, according to calculations...]]> Mon, 27 Jun 2016 13:04:24 +0200

More than half of the starters in the Netherlands would like to begin as part-timers because they would like to maintain some form of financial security offered by a fixed job. This was reported in the research conducted by the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) in collaboration with the Free University.
29% of starters have hope to work full time as an entrepreneur at a later stage. According to the researchers the choice of entrepreneurship is often a choice for a new lifestyle. Four in ten aspiring entrepreneurs have already had their own business. Under latent entrepreneurs, those who dream about...]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2016 11:06:19 +0200 More and more people are staring up their own business. ING Bank reported around 39000 start-ups in the first quarter this year, an increase of 8%. The growth in the number of start-ups was particularly high in the transport sector. The number of registered taxi drivers increased almost fivefold. According to the bank this increase is in accordance with the simplification of the Taxi Act since January 1, and with the increasing popularity of the digital taxi company Uber, which works with independent retailers.

On average North Holland have the highest number of entrepreneurs. For each 10000 inhabitants, the province...]]> Mon, 30 May 2016 11:16:08 +0200
Prince Constantijn— who is the new appointed special ambassador for startups—opened the Startup Fest on the 24th of May in Amsterdam. He said that he does not know whether startups will become the driving force behind the economy, “but they are important to renew the economy”, according to RTL Nieuws’ live blog on the event.
Within this five-day event, various startup giants are giving keynote speeches including Tim Cook of Apple, Eric Schmidt of Alphabet, Nathan Blecharczyk of Airbnb and Travis Kalanick of Uber.

Former Transit minister Neelie Kroes, already gave her speech and according to her, the belief that...]]> Mon, 30 May 2016 11:11:44 +0200 2015 will be remembered as the year in which the Netherlands was able to attract a record number of 219 foreign investment projects, according to research by accountants group EY. The projects ranged from logistics operations to sales and marketing and to head offices. Most foreign firms came from the US, but there was a sharp rise in Chinese involvement.
However, there is a cause for concern, according to the latest figures, because the confidence of foreign investors is declining in the Dutch business climate. This negative sentiment can translate into a lower level of total investment, giving rise to...]]> Mon, 30 May 2016 11:07:45 +0200
If you are thinking about starting a company in the Netherlands, one of the first steps is checking that the proposed name or logo is unique, and can be protected from copycats. Your company brand will be distinguished by a word called a trademark (e.g. “Unilever” or “Heineken” – two world renowned Dutch trademarks). Even certain colours or shapes you create can become your trademarks (like the yellow and red shell from Shell Gasoline), but these will only be protected if they are registered.

After your trademark is registered, no one else can use it without your prior consent. Nor...]]> Thu, 19 May 2016 12:33:19 +0200 Since the Law Deregulation Review Labour Relations replaced the Law Declaration of Labour Relations on May 1st, large companies no longer want to hire freelancers, reports BNR. The big issue is how the Tax Authorities will assess whether paper agreements and actual activities correspond with each other. Large companies find this too uncertain, fearing that afterwards they will have to pay social security contributions and payroll tax for freelancers.

According to BNR, recruitment agencies also notice much uncertainty among both clients and freelancers. D66 expressed great concern about these reports, and the parliamentarian Steven van Weyenberg suggested to monitor how...]]> Mon, 09 May 2016 22:22:10 +0200 According to the entrepreneur, investor, online marketing guru and startup enthusiast John Rampton, who was recently named #3 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine and has been one of the Top 10 Most Influential PPC Experts in the World for the past three years, it is possible to become less stressed if you are following these eight things:

1. Do one thing at a time.
This statement was backed up by relevant research at the Stanford University. The researchers found that “multitaskers were terrible in all three experiments, worst of all the researchers found that...]]> Thu, 21 Apr 2016 21:51:03 +0200 Minister wants more MBO internship with freelancers. Minister Jet Bussemaker (Education) aims to make it easier for MBO students to follow an internship by the self-employed ( freelancers ). At this moment the students don’t chose the self-employed for their internships because there’s too much uncertainty around the subject, according to a letter from Bussemaker to parliament sent this Friday . The self-employed should comply with quality requirements and be recognized as a training company .

According to Bussemaker thease are mainly very specialist and creative professions such as for example gold- and silversmiths. They often work independently.
Parliament had asked...]]> Mon, 04 Apr 2016 10:09:06 +0200

You are an entrepreneur and have set up a beautiful business. Your company has a loyal and committed staff, willing to invest in new clients. Your business is growing and is ready for the next step. But what themes can be used to stimulate growth? Moreover, what could hurt that corresponding growth? What does this mean for your own role in the company?

A development in the growth of organisations is described by the American organisation expert Larry E. Greiner In 1972, he developed the 'Greiner Growth Model'  which describes the phases a business goes through as it grows. He...]]> Tue, 02 Feb 2016 12:57:29 +0100 In November, more businesses have started compared to over a year earlier, mainly in business services. More entrepreneurs have also stopped, while the total number of bankruptcies have declined.

This comes from figures published by the Chamber of Commerce.

Last month, more than fourteen thousand start-ups were begun, 4 percent more than in October last year. In 60 percent of cases, they were self-employed, while Small-to-medium entreprenuers grew to nearly sixteen establishments.

However, this was not the case for places such as Groningen and Overijssel, at odds with the national trend. These two places saw a decrease in the number of...]]> Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:40:17 +0100 The implementation of the participation Act has been adjusted in certain parts. State Secretary Jetta Klijnsma of Social Affairs and Employment reached an agreement with the Association of Dutch Municipalities, social partners, and the UWV.

Former students who come from secondary special education without review by the UWV are to be admitted directly to the target group for new jobs that will become available for people with an occupational disability. There will also be a simpler design of salary valuation in the workplace, especially where employers and municipalities have urged. These measures make it easier for people who do not...]]> Fri, 04 Dec 2015 19:54:07 +0100 Around April 2016, it is expected that the Whistleblowers Act will come into force. All employers who have at least fifty persons, will be legally obliged to have an internal reporting scheme for whistleblowers.

In recent years, there have been many cases where whistleblowing leads to a great deal of publicity of the workers faced through the work of doing wrong in the eyes of the public interest. Often they were in trouble because they brought out the abuse made by companies. This prompted the House of Representatives to come to an agreement on a new act for whistleblowers, which...]]> Fri, 27 Nov 2015 20:30:03 +0100 Despite the growing economy, continued investment in technological innovation in The Netherlands has decreased. The positive of this is that companies have begun to pay more attention to social innovation. This enables a better return on investment. The success rate of technological innovation is largely determined by 'soft' social innovation.

This is evident from the research presented on Thursday by the Erasmus Competition and Innovation Monitor 2014-2015, which annually assesses the state of Dutch innovation. The amount of new products and services has surged by 3.5 percent and the amount of improved products and services increased by 5.2 percent. However,...]]> Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:15:16 +0100 More business last year spent the night in a hotel for their work. The number of overnight stays rose by 3.1 percent, leading figures to rise to over 16 million.
This appears evident from the Trend Report on tourism, recreation and leisure in 2015 undertaken by the Centraal Bureau voor de statistiek (Central Bureau of Statistics, CBS) and the tourism office.

The first half of 2015 saw a continuation in this growth, with the number of commercial overnight stays increasing by 2.8 percent. Business tourists are responsible for two of the five nights in Dutch hotels. Most foreign business travelers who stayed in...]]> Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:08:56 +0100 Making a good introduction is very important for new employees, as we now know. It's also important for an employer to make a good introduction. However, properly analysing how to improve the productivity of new employees as an employer is difficult to measure. Google has done this well and other organisations can learn from this.

The analytics team at Google has set up several experiments to measure the factors that contribute to the productivity of new employees. What they have found is that it making a productive new employee comes from both sides, the employer and the employee.

Sending an...]]> Tue, 10 Nov 2015 14:33:56 +0100 Changes to the rules on annual accounting and book keeping have taken place on November 1, 2015. The Minister of Security and Justice, Gerard Adriaan van der Steur has set Dutch accounting rules for small and medium businesses to fit along the lines of the European norm.

The main change is how small and medium businesses are defined by size. Until now, small businesses must have a maximum balance sheet total to, but not exceeding €4.4 million and a maximum net turnover of €8.8 million. Fitting into this category allows the business to qualify for exemption from audit. With this...]]> Wed, 04 Nov 2015 09:15:14 +0100 The VAR statement for freelancers and the self-employed will not be going into effect until January 1, 2016, announced Eric Wiebes, State Secretary of Finance this Monday. The new scheme where the VAR (Declaration of the Employment Relationship) is replaced by model agreements in each sector will be postponed.

'The preparation goes on, but we are not there yet,' wrote Wiebes to the Senate. The Senate would be discussing the implementation of the plan by late October, but now it's off. Wiebes is now aiming to replace the VAR by April 1, 2016.
Freelancers have to work with a VAR,...]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2015 13:20:48 +0200 Entrepreneurs with small companies will only have to pay sick employees up to one annual wage instead of two years. This only applies to businesses with up to ten employees.

Last Friday, the Cabinet ruled on this wage/salary change, after which Minister of Finance Asscher made the change publicly known. 'Sick Pay is a huge problem, particularly for small businesses,' says Asscher. The former rulings on sick pay may deter employers to recruit staff.

The wage/salary would have to be paid for from the collective employer contributions as well as from Government contributions, which would amount to 20 million euros...]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2015 16:20:21 +0200 Entrepreneurs overall perform better when they have learned how to cope with stress. The more stress an entrepreneur faces, the less financial and personal aims it can achieve.

Josette Dijkhuizen highlights this as part of her PhD at Tilburg University. Her survey of 277 businesses shows that feelings of uncertainty, risk and responsibility as well as being available at all times greatly affect entrepreneurs’ stress perception. They can achieve a significant competitive advantage when they learn to cope with occupational stress, says Dijkhuizen. She further claims that entrepreneurs need to have inspiration in order to be successful. Consultants and coaches...]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2015 11:54:42 +0200
Many may be surprised to know that freelancers unlike most traditional workers in The Netherlands are required to pay taxes on their income before it is actually received. As if this long-standing regulation is not binding enough, the government has now placed additional constraints on freelancers that may generate billions in tax revenue per year.
Income tax for freelancers in The Netherlands, it seems, is an unsettling balance between efficient planning and pure chance. While most employees are taxed via the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) income withholding, freelancers however, are taxed via voorlopige aanslag (provisional assessment) and pay income tax on earnings in-advance of them...]]> Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:24:34 +0100 Forty-one percent of self-employed workers (ZZP’ers) are not saving for their pensions, states a latest research.
Insurer, Centraal Beheer released the results on Tuesday, 17 February from conducting a research with 539 ZZP’ers.
One in five (21%) Dutch freelancers assume that their monthly retirement income is not enough and more than half (57%) expect to work after retirement.
The report also stated that more men who are self-employed put money aside for pension compared to their female counterparts. Forty-eight percent of male freelancers are currently saving for their pension compared to only 35% of women.
Since the beginning of 2015,...]]> Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:57:23 +0100 Start-up visa; details and requirements online

The Expatcenter Amsterdam is very pleased to announce that as of 1 January 2015, a new visa has been launched for ambitious entrepreneurs looking to start a company in the Netherlands. You can find all information about the new start-up visa on our website, along with a link to the IND’s official application form.

New salary requirements for highly skilled migrant status and 30% ruling

The salary requirements for highly skilled migrants as per January 2015 are as follows:

Highly skilled migrants of 30 years and older: EUR 4,189 gross per month excl. holiday...]]> Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:52:41 +0100
The Dutch freelance market is improving, reported by NU.nl on Tuesday 27th January 2015.

This is evident from the Freelance Market Index (FMI), which indicates how the freelance market develops. The index has risen from 213 to 240 points.

Rob Berger, CEO of Freelance.nl. said that the growth of the freelance market is due to the trend of work becoming more flexible. He also stated that clients and contractors want flexible work or projects. “The number of freelancers and self-employed people increases because the workload grows."

According to NU.nl, Freelance.nl website posted a 20% increase. There were especially more assignments...]]> Thu, 29 Jan 2015 12:53:01 +0100