Cabinet scraps part of VBAR, but enforcement on self-employed relationships continues

Corporate Law

25 March 2026

Cabinet scraps part of VBAR, but enforcement on self-employed relationships continues

Stelt u zich eens voor: u werkt al jaren met dezelfde zelfstandige. Hij stuurt facturen, factureert btw en heeft een eigen kvk-nummer. Toch krijgt u in 2026 ineens vragen van de Belastingdienst over de aard van uw samenwerking. Hoe heeft het zo ver kunnen komen?

The Dutch government has decided to scrap an important part of the bill on Clarification of the Assessment of Employment Relationships and Legal Presumption (VBAR). This part was meant to clarify when someone works as a self-employed person and when there is actually an employment relationship. According to Minister Thierry Aartsen (Employment and Participation), however, this proposed clarification caused too much unrest and uncertainty in the labour market.

On course towards the Self-Employed Persons Act

By scrapping this part of the bill, the government wants to make room for a different route: the Self-Employed Persons Act (Zelfstandigenwet). This private member’s bill from the VVD, D66, CDA and SGP parties is intended to offer a new legal framework for determining when a self-employed person (zzp’er) can genuinely work as a self-employed contractor for a client. The Act – inspired by Belgian legislation – will in all likelihood work with three tests: the self-employment test, the working-relationship test and the sectoral legal presumption.

Legal presumption for low-paid self-employed workers remains

Although a significant part of the VBAR is being scrapped, the government does want to press ahead with another part: the legal presumption of an employment contract for low-paid self-employed workers. For self-employed persons earning up to €38 per hour, it will become easier to invoke this legal presumption. In that case, the burden of proof that genuine self-employment exists lies with the client. If it cannot be demonstrated that there is genuinely independent entrepreneurship, the working relationship can be legally classified as an employment relationship. This, of course, comes with the associated employment-law protections, such as protection against dismissal, continued pay during illness, holiday pay and leave, collective labour agreement entitlements, and so on.

Until the Self-Employed Persons Act, the current framework continues to apply

Until the Self-Employed Persons Act is actually introduced, the existing legal framework remains leading. This means that the qualification of an employment relationship is still assessed on the basis of Section 7:610 of the Dutch Civil Code and its interpretation in the Supreme Court’s case law in the so-called Deliveroo ruling. In that ruling, the Supreme Court formulated nine factors for determining whether an employment relationship qualifies as an employment contract or not.

For clients, this means that the assessment of relationships with self-employed contractors will for now remain case-by-case and strongly dependent on how the cooperation is actually structured in practice. In addition, the self-employed person will also need to genuinely act as an entrepreneur in dealings with third parties, bearing sufficient commercial risk.

Increasing enforcement of employment relationships by the Tax Authorities

It is important that organisations do not sit back in the meantime. The Tax Authorities continue to actively enforce against disguised self-employment (schijnzelfstandigheid) and recently published the Employment Relationships Enforcement Plan 2026. This sets out four important developments relevant to clients:

Broader book audits – In addition to the most recent tax period, the Tax Authorities can also examine earlier years or specific risk periods during book audits.
More attention to chains and intermediaries – Supervision increasingly focuses on the full triangular relationship between client, intermediary and self-employed contractor, including the actual direction of the work. Clients are, after all, increasingly using intermediary agencies to shift risk.
Data-driven risk selection – The Tax Authorities will use data-driven risk selection through a nationwide detection module to identify disguised self-employment within organisations.
More intensive cooperation between supervisory bodies – In particular, it is noted that the Tax Authorities can once again make use of reports from the Netherlands Labour Inspectorate concerning possible disguised self-employment.

What does this mean for clients?

The political course on self-employment legislation is changing, but supervision of employment relationships is actually increasing further. For organisations working with self-employed contractors, it is therefore wise to already take a critical look now at how their cooperation with self-employed contractors is structured, both contractually and in practice. This is also relevant in view of the forthcoming Self-Employed Persons Act. Over the coming period, it will become clear exactly how the Self-Employed Persons Act will take shape. Until then, it remains essential to carefully qualify employment relationships and actively manage the risks of disguised self-employment.

Do you need help assessing self-employed working relationships and your business case as a company around self-employed contractors? Then we, the legal DBA experts of The Legal Company, can help you excellently with this. Please contact us via info@thelegalcompany.nl or 020-3450152.

De afgelopen jaren stonden in het teken van de Wet VBAR, het wetsvoorstel dat een einde moest maken aan onduidelijkheid over de zzp’er. Het kabinet heeft delen van dat voorstel inmiddels geschrapt. Op het eerste gezicht is dat goed nieuws: minder regels, minder administratieve last. Maar in de praktijk blijven dezelfde toetsen overeind.

“De inhoud van de samenwerking is leidend, niet wat er op papier staat.”

De Belastingdienst handhaaft sinds 1 januari 2025 weer actief op schijnzelfstandigheid. En recente uitspraken van de Hoge Raad bevestigen dat rechters strikt toetsen of er sprake is van ondergeschiktheid en gezagsverhouding.

Voor uw praktijk betekent dit drie dingen. Een: leg de samenwerking duidelijk vast, met aandacht voor de inhoud. Twee: voorkom dat een zzp’er feitelijk werkt als werknemer. Drie: wees voorbereid op een controle, en weet hoe u de relatie kunt herzien als dat moet.

Heeft u vragen over uw concrete situatie? Wij sparren dagelijks met opdrachtgevers over hun zzp-relaties. Vraag een offerte op of bekijk onze Legal Safe abonnementen.