On 20 May 2020, Ministers Wiebes, Koolmees and Hoekstra outlined the broad outlines of what they call the Emergency Package 2.0. See the Letter to Parliament on the Emergency Package for Jobs and the Economy 2.0.
Anyone who has not yet submitted an application under the first set of measures should be aware that the deadlines for this are almost up. Late applications will be rejected without exception. The deadlines are listed below. See our article Coronavirus crisis – Overview of emergency financial measures You can read the terms and conditions for the various schemes.
NOW
The application for compensation for staff costs (Emergency Measure to Bridge the Gap for Job Retention; NOW) must by 31 May 2020 at the latest have been submitted to the UWV. In the Letter to Parliament: Third amendment now However, Minister Koolmees has indicated that this deadline will be extended to 5 June 2020.
This deadline also applies if, prior to the introduction of the NOW scheme, you had submitted an application for reduced working hours which had not yet been processed when the NOW scheme came into effect.
The third amendment to the NOW scheme, announced in the aforementioned letter to Parliament, concerns:
- an alternative method for calculating the wage bill for seasonal businesses (including those with a zero wage bill in January 2020);
- the determination of the relevant wage bill in the event of a transfer of the undertaking;
- excluding from the wage bill the 13th-month payment made in January 2020 (and possibly also other wage components that do not directly relate to the work carried out in January 2020).
TOZO
The application for the TOZO (Bridging Allowance for Self-Employed People) must also by 31 May 2020 at the latest to be received by the local authority.
TOGS (Emergency Helpdesk)
The deadline for applying for the one-off grant of €4,000 from the emergency support scheme is slightly later. Applications must be received by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) by 26 June 2020 (17:00) at the latest.
Special deferral of tax payments
The three-month period during which the special tax payment deferral – subject to few conditions – can be utilised will end for the first business owners in a few weeks’ time. The exact date is stated in the letter in which the Tax and Customs Administration confirmed the payment deferral granted.
The logical consequence – which, however, not every business owner may yet realise – is that, at that point, all outstanding (additional) tax assessments must be paid. The same applies to the tax due on all payroll tax and VAT returns submitted from that point onwards, as well as to all tax assessments (including additional assessments) received from that point onwards.
Given that the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis is far from over, many business owners will still be unable to make (full) payment. They may request the Tax and Customs Administration to extend the special deferral, but must then submit a statement from an independent expert. Alternatively, they may seek to agree a payment plan with the Tax and Customs Administration.