Ask the headhunter

J.J. asks:

I’ve been working in IT for over 30 years, of which the last 25 have been self-employed. My most recent position was as IT manager at an international high-tech company. The duration of my assignments varies from a few months to several years. In my career, I’ve worked in different IT areas, ranging from security to system management in the semiconductor industry, coaching, project management and team management.

The beginning of my freelance work was purely coincidental: my employer didn’t want to do a certain job and I did. I registered with the Chamber of Commerce, applied for a VAT number and got a declaration of independent contractor status (VAR) from the tax office. Several years ago, the law changed and the VAR requirement was dropped, but in practice, everything remained the same.

Until now. It looks like something is about to change, but it’s unclear what that will mean for me. I’m also noticing that it’s become very quiet on the assignment front. I’m not getting invited anywhere and I wonder why.

The headhunter answers:

I see a lot of freelancers struggling with the same question. Currently, there are 1.3 million self-employed people in the Netherlands, up from about 864,000 in 2013. Freelancers are everywhere these days, working not only as small independents in construction or business services but also in postal, parcel or meal delivery, healthcare, education and many other sectors. The previous system definitely had its flaws, particularly at the lower end of the market where delivery workers faced poor labor conditions.

In 2016, after discussions about false self-employment of some freelancers, a law was passed in the Netherlands (Wet DBA) that stipulates the conditions for entrepreneurship versus employment. Because of some ambiguities and the potentially large impact on existing working relationships, enforcement was delayed several months after the law came into effect. However, due to political changes, it was recently decided to abolish the moratorium from the beginning of 2025.

The DBA law outlines specific conditions for entrepreneurship. To qualify as an entrepreneur, you must be able to determine your own working hours, use your own tools and operate without supervision or direction from your client’s employees. If you perform tasks that are also done by your client’s employees, this is considered salaried employment. To protect the lower end of the market, there’s also a presumption of an employment contract if the hourly rate is below 32.24 euros (as of 1 July 2023).

The website of the Dutch Tax Authority provides tools with which the self-employed person and the client can determine if their working relationship qualifies as entrepreneurship. However, with roles like software developer, IC designer, IT professional and other freelance engineering positions, significant uncertainty can arise. Clients risk facing claims for employer contributions if the relationship is misclassified. The bottom line is that you no longer decide for yourself whether you’re a self-employed engineer; based on subordination, organizational embeddedness and the extent to which you’re working for your own account and risk, the rules determine whether you’re an entrepreneur or not.

The government gives all kinds of reasons as to why the law was passed. While it claims to be creating clarity for all parties, it has actually created a minefield in which it becomes very risky for organizations to engage with freelancers. Even the existing model agreements fail to offer any certainty.

Fortunately, the tax authorities have indicated that they don’t intend to uphold the new law more strictly. They now have 80 FTEs dedicated to enforcing regulations on false self-employment, and this number will remain the same for the 1.3 million freelancers. Current legislation and jurisprudence remain the guiding principles, with the tax authorities taking a “holistic approach” to assessing employment relationships.