Recently, the Dutch Senate has agreed to thelegislative proposal ‘deregulation of the assessment of employment relationships’.

As a result:

• as from 1 May 2016, contractors can no longer apply for a so-called ‘Declaration of Independent Contractor Status’ (VAR-verklaring). Contractors and companies will be given until 1 May 2017 to comply with the new rules, without the Dutch Tax Authority taking enforcement measures.

• • as from 1 May 2016, parties can use sample contracts (‘modelovereenkomsten‘), drawn up and approved by the Dutch Tax Authority. The sample contracts will be published on the website of the Dutch Tax Authority. It is not mandatory to use these sample contracts.

• in stead of using these sample contracts, parties can also have their own contact being reviewed by the Dutch Tax Authority. The Dutch Tax Authority will then inform parties whether or not they have an employer-employee relationship and income tax and social security contributions should be paid.

• if parties fully comply with the provisions of an approved (sample) contract, their relationship will in principle not be regarded as an employment relationship. The actual determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor depends upon the facts of each relationship. If the Dutch Tax Authority, after having examined the facts, will come to the conclusion that there is an employment relationship, income tax and social security contributions will still have to be paid, and fines may be imposed.

Source: website Belastingdienst