The government decided to postpone a measure regarding share options. The purpose of this measure was to shift the moment when the taxes on the share option rights are charged from the moment the options are exercised to the moment when the shares obtained from that exercise can be traded. The goal was to resolve possible liquidity problems if people can’t pay their taxes when exercising their share option rights. The government decided to postpone this measure for probably a year and to take this time to further consult relevant parties and do more research. The measure is probably open for public consultation in the first quarter of 2021.
Yesterday, on Prinsjesdag, the Dutch government presented its plans for next year. In the government plans several relevant policy measures were included for startups and scaleups. We have summed them up for you below.
Scaleup fund
To stimulate the growth of startups and scaleups, the cabinet is setting up a national scaleup facility with European and national resources and contributions from private investors, for which €150 million will be made available from the government.
Funds of Regional Development Companies
The cabinet is also making €150 million available to strengthen the funds of the Regional Development Companies (ROMs). With the Corona Bridge Loan, the government helped startups, scale-ups, and innovative SMEs with bridging loans via the ROMs. By strengthening the fund capital of ROMs, the ROMs can also strengthen the equity of these companies in new financing rounds. The condition is that the regions themselves provide co-financing.
Increase WBSO tariff
The government is increasing the deduction percentage of the WBSO R&D tax credit scheme (the current percentage is 32% of the first 350.000 of the total underlying R&D costs). The WBSO R&D tax credit scheme means businesses pay lower wage tax and lower national insurance contributions, and self-employed entrepreneurs can deduct an (annually set) fixed amount for R&D when filing their income tax return. Startups are given extra compensation for R&D work. More information about WBSO for startups: https://english.rvo.nl/subsidies-programmes/wbso/wbso-tax-credit-benefits-startups
Share options
Read the full write-up on Government.nl
On this page, Business.gov.nl lists the plans that may affect you as an entrepreneur, whether you are a self-employed professional, an SME owner, or other types of entrepreneur. Don't forget to refresh this page regularly to see the latest information.
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