What is the WBSO and who is eligible?
WBSO is the tax-credit scheme from the Dutch government (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy), which is available for all Dutch companies undertaking Research and Development (R&D) work that are technical innovations. This can relate to the development of products, production processes, software or their component parts, or relate to technical scientific research. Companies can receive a reduction on their taxes for all personnel performing R&D work, as well as on some specific R&D-related company costs. In 2025, the WBSO will have €1.582 billion in available funding.
How does it work practically?
WBSO applications and evaluations are coordinated by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). WBSO lowers the R&D costs for companies by giving a reduction on the payroll tax for R&D personnel. The reduction amount depends on the number of hours spent on performing R&D work and can be up to €20-25k per FTE per year. In 2025, this deduction amounts to 50% for start-ups of the first €380,000 of the total underlying R&D cost and 16% of the remaining costs.
What do I need to do to get this benefit?
You need to define a project in the company and submit an application describing all your R&D work to indicate the number of R&D hours you wish to avail the benefit for (see: WBSO: Aanvraagproces). The application is evaluated and granted by RVO when all requirements for WBSO are met.
What are the important deadlines?
To avail the benefit for the entire year, you need to submit the application for 2025 by December 20, 2024. Thereafter you can submit an application until the last day of each calendar month to avail the benefit for the remaining months of the book year. The final deadline for a submission is on September 30 of each year. In March of each year, the hours actually availed in the previous year need to be reported to RVO for the final calculation of the actual payroll tax you were eligible for in that year.
How do I make the best of it?
Make sure you apply the credit on the payroll tax for all personnel performing R&D work. In the application, ensure that you put clear emphasis on the R&D work because any work which is not a part of R&D will not be granted WBSO.
How FFUND can help
At FFUND, we can support you with your entire WBSO journey, starting from the application to helping with the administration. Contact us via info@ffund.nl or our contact form for more information.
