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NOW 6: Corona support measures in the Netherlands

This information was updated on February 25th, 2022

As from today until April 13th 2022, at the latest, you can apply for a compensation for the eighth application period (January, February and March 2022) of the temporary emergency bridging measure (NOW 6). This compensation is intended for employers to continue payment of the wages to their employees during the pandemic. Regardless of whether you have previously applied for NOW, you can apply for this subsidy if you have an average loss of turnover of at least 20% over January, February and March 2022 in comparison with 2019. The compensation will only cover up to 90% of your loss of turnover, which means that there is no additional compensation for a decrease in turnover of more than 90%.

How is the loss of turnover determined?

The compensation is based on the expected percentage of decrease in turnover that your company will incur. The decrease in turnover will then be calculated by comparing the turnover of the months January, February and March 2022 with the average turnover of the year 2019:

1/4 of turnover 2019    -/-    turnover  (januari, februari and March 2022) =   ….% loss of turnover
.                                          1/4 turnover 2019

Please note: Did your company start later than 1 January 2019 or did your company make an acquisition later than 1 January 2019? Then there are other periods with which you can compare the turnover of January, February and March 2022, so that a different calculation will apply.

Companies without a branche in The Netherlands

Companies that are not based in the Netherlands are also eligible to apply for the NOW-scheme, as long as they have employees that are socially insured in The Netherlands. In this case only the wage of the Dutch socially insured employee will be taken into account in the calculation. With regard to the decrease in turnover the following applies: only the turnover of the foreign legal entity with Dutch social security wages will determine the calculation of the turnover decrease. If there are any other groups/entities of your company without social security wages insured in the Netherlands, then their turnover figures should not be taken into account when calculating the decrease in turnover.

What are the main obligations when applying?

  • The amount of the compensation is based on your wage bill of October 2021. The wage bill for January, February and March 2022 may therefore decrease by a maximum of 15% compared to the wage bill in October 2021, without this affecting the final compensation. So, keep the wage bill equal as much as possible to avoid having to repay a part of it.
  • You have a best effort obligation to guide your employee to another job if you dismiss an employee or if his contract expires. If you submit an application for economic dismissal, you have the duty to report this to the UWV. If you fail to do this, your definitive allowance will be reduced by 5%.
  • Keep records of administration that allow the UWV to check whether you meet all the conditions for the compensation. Keep this administration for up to 5 years after the compensation has been determined.
  • Inform your Works Council, employee representatives or your employees about the compensation.
  • Continue to submit your payroll tax return on time.
  • Do not pay out dividend and bonuses to shareholders, board and management, and do not buy your own shares. This only applies if the advance on the compensation is € 125,000 or more, or if the definitive compensation is € 125,000 or more.

Final calculation

The application that is now being submitted provides a provisional compensation. Please note that a final settlement will be made later based on the actual figures. This can lead to a (partial) refund of the advance received or to a subsequent payment. The term for the definitive application is not yet known, but we will keep you updated once this has been announced. It might also be possible that you will need to enclose a third-party statement or an auditor’s statement with the final application. This depends on the amount of your advance and compensation. You can use your own accountant or bookkeeper for this. If desired, we can put you in touch with an accountant who is able to guide you with the statement. We will of course also be happy to assist you in submitting this final application.

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Since 1972, Interfisc has offered international HR & Payroll solutions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. We do this from our offices in the Netherlands and Belgium, and with an international team of around 45 committed and caring employees. 

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