In recent weeks, the government has introduced many changes and extensions to the -hastily drawn up- financial schemes relating to the coronavirus. To help you see the wood for the trees, we have listed the most important changes below.

NOW adjustments 6 May 2020
Employers with a foreign bank account number can now also apply for NOW subsidy. Furthermore, the employer who applies for NOW subsidy automatically agrees to any disclosure of data regarding the NOW application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act (WOB). However, due to competitive sensitivity, this does not concern commercially sensitive information. In addition, it has been announced that personnel BVs within a group cannot themselves apply for the NOW. Other BVs within the group do have this option. Finally, employers who apply for the NOW and are also entitled to the wage cost subsidy for employees with an occupational disability do not need to offset this subsidy against the NOW. Therefore, notifying the municipality of the award of the NOW subsidy is no longer necessary.

Group companies and NOW
Operating companies with at least a 20% decline in revenue that are part of groups (without that group-wide decline) can, due to a recent change in the NOW scheme, still apply for subsidy from the UWV. To do so, they must meet additional conditions, such as, among others, that no dividend may be paid out and no own shares may be bought back. Read here more about the widening of the NOW.

Start-ups and scale-ups
Start-ups and scale-ups could not make use of the NOW scheme, because they either have no/little wage bill, or no/little profit. To support these companies nonetheless, they can claim the so-called Corona Bridging Loan. This is a regional system of loans that they can apply for from 29 April.

Max. 30% overtime
Under the WAB, the unemployment insurance premium is differentiated according to the type of contract (permanent or flexible). For a permanent contract, the employer has to pay a lower premium. To prevent abuse of this low rate, by giving a permanent contract with a small number of hours and then having the employee work unlimited overtime, the 30% overtime rule was set to take effect. Given the many care workers and other employers (supermarkets) currently having staff work more hours because of the coronavirus, this is not currently desirable. For this reason, its introduction is postponed until 1 January 2021. You can read more about this here.

TOGS and BMKB
The ministry has further relaxed the criteria for these allowance schemes and raised the cap. For the BMKB, this concretely means a longer term of 4 years and a lower threshold through a revenue test. As regards the TOGS, entrepreneurs who cannot claim the TOGS scheme based on their main activity can now apply for an allowance based on their registered secondary activity. Read more here .

Tozo
The cabinet is arranging that cross-border workers and state-pension (AOW) recipients can also claim the Temporary Bridging Scheme for Self-Employed Professionals (Tozo). When calculating income support, only income from work performed during the period for which the entrepreneur is applying for Tozo counts. You can read more about this here.

Temporary COVID-19 Act
It is also important to note that the ‘Temporary COVID-19 Justice and Security Act (35.434)’ has taken effect; this scheme applies retroactively from 16 March 2020 and, in principle, lapses on 1 September 2020. The act mainly regulates issues surrounding corporate decision-making. Among other things, it makes it possible, without a shareholders’ resolution, to postpone shareholders’ meetings by 4 months and to hold no physical meetings, provided the meeting can be held electronically and shareholders were able to ask questions in advance.

Questions or advice?
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Nothing changes as often as laws and regulations. We would like to point out that our blogs may no longer be in line with current laws and regulations and may therefore be outdated. If you have questions or a problem relating to this blog, or if you require legal assistance, please contact us.