Dutch R&D Subsidies

The WBSO (R&D tax credit) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs is intended to provide entrepreneurs an incentive to invest in research. With the WBSO, companies can lower the wage costs for R&D and other R&D costs and expenditures, such as prototypes or research equipment. You can set off the tax benefit in your tax return to the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. Companies pay less wage tax and national insurance contributions and self-employed individuals can make use of a fixed deduction. Applications must be received one month before the start of the period for which these facilities are required. The application of self-employed entrepreneurs covers the period from the date of submission to the end of the calendar year.

Purpose of the WBSO

For the purpose of this Act, research and development is defined as:

• development of technically new physical products, physical production processes, software or components thereof;
• technical-scientific research seeking to explain phenomena in fields such as physics, chemistry, biotechnology, production technology and information and communication technology;

Requirements

Your R&D-development-project must meet the following conditions before you can apply for the WBSO:

the proposed R&D activities take place in your own company;

the technological development is new to your organisation;

the development is accompanied by technical problems and;

the R&D work has yet to take place (in other words, you must always submit a WBSO application in advance).

Source: www.rvo.nl