Working with self-employed professionals: where things stand in 2026

Enforcement against false self-employment in the Netherlands has been running for well over a year now. The political side of the file has shifted considerably: the clarification part of the VBAR Act has been dropped, a separate legal presumption for low hourly rates has been passed, and case law has become the leading framework. This article sets out where things currently stand, what the Dutch Tax Authority assesses, and what self-employed professionals and clients can do in practice.

Last updated 27 July 2026. This article concerns the Dutch rules on false self-employment and is informative only, not tax or legal advice.

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Where do we stand now?

Since 1 January 2025 the Dutch Tax Authority has again been enforcing the rules on false self-employment. The enforcement moratorium has been lifted, but the rollout is phased. This is the situation halfway through 2026.

• Additional assessments are possible, backdated to 1 January 2025. Through to 2029, corrections will in principle not go back further than that date. The exceptions are wilful non-compliance and situations where the Tax Authority had already issued a formal instruction. Only from 2030 does the full five-year assessment period come back into play.
• No default penalties in 2026, but wilful-intent penalties can apply. Part of the so-called soft landing has been extended. Default penalties will not be imposed in 2026, but in cases of intent or gross negligence a wilful-intent penalty can follow. That can run up to 100 percent of the assessment.
• A check usually starts with a company visit. That does not lead straight to an assessment, but to a warning or a books investigation. From 1 January 2027 these remaining elements of the soft landing fall away as well.
• Checks are risk-based. The Tax Authority uses data analysis to select sectors and situations where false self-employment is most common, focusing mainly on clients.

What happened to the VBAR Act

The VBAR Act consisted of two parts: a clarification of the authority criterion and a legal presumption of employment at a low hourly rate. The government dropped the clarification part in March 2026 through an amending memorandum. What remained is the presumption, which passed both chambers as a standalone bill: the House of Representatives approved it on 21 April 2026, the Senate on 16 June 2026.

What matters in practice:

• The threshold is 38 euros per hour (reference date 1 January 2026) and is periodically indexed. The previously mentioned figure of 33 euros is out of date.
• The presumption is not a tax test and not a ban on working below that rate. It shifts the burden of proof in a civil procedure: the worker can invoke it, after which the client has to demonstrate that there is genuine self-employment.
• A rate above the threshold offers no safe harbour. The government has been explicit about this: false self-employment can also occur above that amount.
• The clarification of the authority criterion has been moved to the yet-to-be-drafted Self-Employment Act. Until that exists, case law is the leading framework.

How is a working relationship assessed?

The basis is Article 7:610 of the Dutch Civil Code: an employment contract exists where there is work, pay and working under someone else's authority. That last element, the relationship of authority, is the most distinctive. It already counts that a client can give directions and instructions. They do not actually have to give them.

These rules are mandatory law. If the facts show that there is an employment contract, the parties cannot mutually agree that there is not. So the contract on paper is not decisive, the actual practice is.

The nine viewpoints from the Deliveroo ruling

The Dutch Supreme Court has established that all facts and circumstances must be weighed in relation to one another, the so-called holistic test. In any case, these nine viewpoints can be relevant:

What the Uber ruling adds

In February 2025 the Supreme Court answered preliminary questions that sharpen the picture on three points:

• Every viewpoint counts, and there is no ranking between the nine. Introducing such a ranking is a matter for the legislator.
• Under the ninth viewpoint, entrepreneurial characteristics outside the assessed working relationship also count. What you do for other clients is therefore relevant to the assessment of this assignment.
• Two people doing the same work for the same client can be classified differently. The one with entrepreneurial characteristics can be seen as self-employed, the one without as an employee.

That last point is the core of why demonstrable entrepreneurship has gained so much weight. The assignment does not decide everything; your profile as an entrepreneur counts too.

Action plan for self-employed professionals

1. Work for multiple clients where you can

For crisis managers, marketing managers or HR managers it is often not realistic to serve several clients during an intensive assignment. That makes what you do alongside it all the more important. Stay visible in the market, keep networking and keep track of what you do. Platforms like Planet Interim match new assignments with your profile daily, which makes it demonstrable that you are continuously seeking new work and are not economically dependent on a single party. That speaks directly to viewpoint 9.

2. Bear real commercial risk

Think of your own insurance, liability, investments in knowledge and tools, and responsibility for the quality of the result. If you fix a disappointing result in your own time and at your own expense, that is a strong indication of entrepreneurship (viewpoint 8). Set out that allocation of risk in the agreement as well, and make sure practice matches it.

3. Work with a results-based scope

Describe concrete deliverables, milestones and a start and end date. That turns the assignment into a defined project rather than an ongoing role, and speaks to viewpoint 1: an obligation to deliver a result points towards entrepreneurship, an obligation to make an effort without a defined result points towards an employment contract.

4. Document your acquisition

Since the Uber ruling this is one of the most underrated points. What you do outside the assignment counts towards the assessment of the assignment itself. Keep evidence of memberships of platforms and networks, quotes and responses you have sent, exploratory meetings, event attendance, and your marketing and website activity.

5. Watch embedding during the assignment

An often forgotten viewpoint (number 3). The more you operate like staff, the more that points towards employment. Be cautious about taking part in review cycles, staff schemes and internal activities that have nothing to do with the assignment, and present yourself externally as an outside professional.

What the risk is if it goes wrong

If the Tax Authority rules that there was in fact an employment relationship, the payroll tax assessment in principle falls on the client, as the withholding party. For the professional, the knock-on damage can sit in income tax: the entrepreneur facilities fall away if the self-employment does not hold up. In 2026 that means the self-employment deduction of 1,200 euros (2025: 2,470 euros, 2027: 900 euros) and the SME profit exemption of 12.7 percent. Income tax already paid is offset against this, so the net outcome varies considerably per situation.

In practice the commercial risk is often greater than the tax risk: clients who doubt the working relationship simply do not hire, or only through a construction with extra links in the chain.

Action plan for clients

1. Make sure the contract matches practice

A good contract sets out what the assignment is, what results are delivered, who bears which risk, how invoicing works and how the professional is insured. But a contract is never the decisive factor. If in practice the person is directed like an employee, that practice counts. So check periodically whether the execution still matches what is on paper.

2. Avoid structural embedding

Assignments that in effect fill a permanent role are the biggest risk. Work with a defined goal, named milestones and an end date. And look at the softer signals: does the professional take part in team meetings, reviews and staff activities, or is the role clearly positioned as external?

3. Know what the presumption does and does not do

At an hourly rate below 38 euros the worker will be able to invoke the presumption, after which you as the client have to demonstrate that there is genuine self-employment. If you cannot, the obligations that come with employment apply, such as continued pay during illness and dismissal protection.

Conversely, a high rate is no guarantee. A rate of 95 euros per hour weighs in under viewpoint 7 (level of pay), but says nothing about authority, embedding or the allocation of risk. The assessment always remains the whole picture.

4. Record your assessment

Assess working relationships in advance against the nine viewpoints and document the reasoning per assignment. That is the difference between a conversation with the inspector about facts and one about assumptions. In case of doubt, prior consultation with the Tax Authority is possible.

What the risk is if it goes wrong

If an assignment is reclassified, a payroll tax and social security assessment follows. Employer charges are calculated up to the maximum contribution income, which in 2026 is 79,409 euros per year (2025: 75,864 euros).

Beyond the tax consequences, a reclassification can also raise employment-law issues, for example around dismissal protection, holiday entitlement, pension accrual and continued pay during illness.

How to keep working together successfully

For most interim managers, independent consultants and specialists the route is simple: a defined assignment, genuine autonomy, your own risk and demonstrable entrepreneurship outside it. If, in a specific situation, that assessment leaves too much doubt, there are alternatives.

• Other forms of collaboration. Think of a Statement of Work, a retainer or a service contract. Our guide to forms of collaboration sets out per form when it does and does not fit.

Conclusion

The rules have not become stricter, the enforcement has. And because the clarification part of the VBAR has been dropped, it comes down to case law: the holistic test, the nine viewpoints and the sharpening from the Uber ruling.

For self-employed professionals that means: bear real risk, work results-based and make sure your entrepreneurship outside the assignment is demonstrable. For clients: define assignments clearly, keep practice in line with the contract and record your assessment. Anyone who has that in order can simply keep working together.