Are you ready to create a valuable business with a team of technological professionals? Do you want to save money on wage taxation and other costs of innovative projects? If the answer is yes, then the WBSO subsidy is what you are looking for. Use your opportunity to apply for financial support from the Dutch government. The WBSO in 8 steps guideline will help you to understand the application procedure better.
Step 1: Intention to conduct research or development (R&D)
One of the biggest considerations in conducting an R&D project is costs. The WBSO subsidy can help you with the project funding. The WBSO lowers the cost of technical-scientific research and development, independently from the results. Almost every company in the Netherlands that plans to conduct R&D is eligible for the WBSO grant. The company can be of any size and can operate in any business industry. An application can be submitted for either of two types of projects:
- The development of technically new physical products/physical production processes/software;
- Technical scientific research.
Step 2: An application submission
The WBSO Software Specialist can guide you through the whole application process and provide support with any possible issues. Contact us for more information.
Step 3: Organization of an administrative record system.
The administrative records for the WBSO have to emphasize the nature of the R&D activities, the content, the progress, and the number of hours of your R&D work. If your first application is for a tax credit on the basis of a fixed sum against costs and expenditures, then you are obliged to keep administrative records of the costs and expenditures actually incurred for each R&D project. If your first application is for a tax credit on the basis of a fixed sum against costs and expenditures, then you do not have to provide a separate administration of the actual costs and expenditures. You have to make sure that you keep administrative records from the very beginning of the project(s), even without an R&D Declaration on your hands.
Step 4: The application check.
After your application has been submitted, consultants from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) inspect it to verify that it is complete. In case your application is…
- Complete: you receive a confirmation of receipt and technical consultants continue with reviewing the content of your application.
- Incomplete: you get an opportunity to complement your application with the necessary information or documentation. You have to provide this information to RVO.nl in a specified time period. Your application will not be processed if you do not submit this information on time. Once your application is complete, you are issued a confirmation of receipt.
Step 5: Evaluation of the content of your application.
Technical consultants review the content of your application by looking at the projects listed in the application, and their costs and expenditures, against the relevant laws and regulations.
The positive Decision about your application for the WBSO will be issued to you together with an R&D Declaration. The Decision specifies the number of hours and, where relevant, the costs and expenditures allocated to each project.
The projects that were not approved for the WBSO are also specified and explained in this Decision. The R&D Declaration specifies the maximum amount of the R&D tax credit deduction that you are entitled to apply to the payroll tax number without sub-number (RSIN) specified, in the period to which the Declaration applies.
Step 6: Deduction of your R&D credit from your tax return.
You deduct the granted R&D tax credit from your payroll tax returns.
Step 7: Submission of an actual R&D statement.
You have to submit a statement of the actual R&D hours worked and the actual costs and expenditures incurred within three months of the end of the calendar year covered by the R&D Declaration concerned. On the basis of this mandatory statement, RVO.nl may issue a correction R&D Declaration.
Step 8: Inspection.
RVO.nl consultants may visit your business to make a retrospective inspection of your R&D work, hours worked, and any costs and expenditures against your R&D administrative records. You will get a correction R&D Declaration if any errors are identified in your R&D administrative records. However, consultants may decide to impose a fine in case of violations.
