The number of starting entrepreneurs in the Netherlands has fallen for the first time in ten years, the Chamber of Commerce notes. “A historic break in the trend," says Erik Stam, professor of entrepreneurship at Utrecht University in response to the figures. That 'break in the trend' naturally has everything to do with the enforcement of the ZZP law per 1 januari van dit jaar and the determination of whether someone really is self-employed or when someone is a 'sham self-employed'…
Many questions
Prior to the turn of the year our self-employed professionals and clients of course had many questions about the upcoming enforcement. An overview and Top 8 of all these questions that were asked we published earlier on
our WDBA web page
.
State of affairs
At the end of last year we had a ‘
Whitepaper Status WDBA/WVBAR What (now) to do
’ written. Then followed the negative advisory opinion of the Council of State on the VBAR bill. The Tax Administration published on 1 november 2024 the assessment framework based on the Deliveroo criteria and, finally, on 18 december its ‘Enforcement Plan for Employment Relations’.
In the meantime, it is 1 januari. Together with our stakeholders we are reviewing the status of all ongoing agreements and assessing the new applications. From this, recommendations emerge that clarify whether and, if so, how assignments can be carried out by self-employed professionals: some are fully WDBA-proof, some will only comply after possible adjustments or clarifications, and another portion of all assignments can no longer be filled through a self-employed status.
In all cases, however, we remain involved inall freelancers who work via Circle8. With analyses, checklists, recommendations and possibly also with referral of the self-employed persons who (temporarily) do notassigned to their project longercan be under the current (enforcement) rules. For that last group, Circle8 works together with a partner whoalso after a possible finding of sham self-employmentcontinuity offers to professionals and their clients.
Conclusion
No worries about additional assessments or other problems due to enforcement of the WDBA. That is what our freelancers and clients may and can expect from cooperation with Circle8. Because there is a solution for everything.
In the meantime we will continue to closely monitor developments regarding laws and regulations and inform everyone about relevant developments that affect the hiring policy for self‑employed contractors.
Do you have any questions? Or would you like to brainstorm with our expert in legislation and regulations? Send a message to Arno Pronk via our contact form.
