At the end of last year, we reported: Decision to abolish self-administered pensions postponed. The Government had asked the Senate not to put the bill to a vote.
This week is the novella has been tabled, with the aim of ensuring that the bill does come into force after all.
Misunderstanding
The reason for postponing the vote on the bill was an alleged loophole relating to the levying of corporation tax. In the amendment, State Secretary for Finance Wiebes states that this was caused by an incomplete answer on his part during the debate on the bill in Parliament. He is clarifying his earlier statements on this matter. In doing so, he makes an exception for cases in which an indexation charge was triggered before 20 September 2016. According to Wiebes’s estimate, this applies to approximately 6% of the private limited companies concerned.
Novella
An amendment bill is a supplementary bill that must be debated and passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the Senate, the amendment will be considered at the same time as the original bill. The bill and the amendment will then come into force simultaneously, following their publication in the Government Gazette.
Treatment plan
The planned timetable for the debate on the amendment is as follows:
- 23 January 2017: submission to the House of Representatives (this has taken place);
- 9 February 2017: vote in the House of Representatives;
- 7 March 2017: vote by the Senate (on the amendment and the bill on the phasing out of self-administered pensions);
- 1 April 2017: abolition of the self-administered pension scheme (phasing out).
Grace period
From the date of entry into force, Wiebes is giving the director-major-shareholder a further three months to:
- to transfer an external pension policy back to the company;
- to make the current pension scheme non-contributory.
If the bill comes into force on 1 April 2017, you will therefore still have until 1 July 2017.
Action and advice
As soon as the amendment and the bill have been passed by the Senate, we will contact our clients regarding the implications of the phasing out for their self-administered pensions. If, in the meantime, you would like to find out more about (the phasing out of your) self-administered pension or that of your clients, please contact your account manager or one of our specialists in the field of self-administered pensions:
- Nijmegen: Ton Vogel
- Wijchen: Paul Willems