If you hire staff from a temporary employment agency, these staff remain employed by the agency. The agency must pay the payroll tax and social security contributions. If the agency fails to do so, you, as the hirer, may be held liable by the tax authorities for the unpaid tax and contributions. The same applies to contractors who hire subcontractors or to so-called “self-employed builders”. This liability arises under the Chain Liability Act (WKA).
This liability may be limited by paying a portion of the hire or contract fee:
– on a so-called g-calculationg;
– directly with the Tax and Customs Administration.
Provided that all (administrative) conditions have been met, the hirer or (sub)contractor is, in both cases, indemnified against WKA liability up to the amount deposited into the g-account or paid directly to the Tax and Customs Administration. Full indemnity may, provided that the associated (administrative) conditions are met, be derived from a payment into the G-account of a temporary employment agency that complies with NEN 4400-1 or NEN 4400-2 and is affiliated with the Labour Standards Foundation (SNA).
A ‘g-account’ is a special bank account that can only be used to pay tax and social security contributions. If any money remains in this account, the tax authorities may be asked to release it. In most cases, the tax authorities will then carry out a (partial) audit to assess whether all obligations to pay tax and social security contributions have been met.
Making a direct payment to the Tax and Customs Administration is also referred to as paying into a WKA depot. This method is used in practice when employees or subcontractors are hired from businesses that do not have a ‘g-account’. The Tax and Customs Administration has announced that these WKA deposits will be phased out with effect from 1 January 2016 will no longer apply to business owners. Existing WKA registrations will be cancelled.
Entrepreneurs who currently derive indemnity from direct payments into a WKA account would be well advised to urge the lender or (sub)contractor to open a g-account in the near future.
In addition to making payments into a g-account, the hirer would, incidentally, be well advised to take additional administrative measures to limit the amount of any liability claim. After all, in most cases (see above), the indemnity for payments into the g-account applies only up to the amount deposited into that account.