Developing new products, technologies and production processes is expensive. In the Netherlands, you can lower these costs by applying for the WBSO Subsidy. This subsidy is meant to encourage R&D in companies. It does so by allowing you to deduct certain R&D expenses and wage tax. This way, you can invest more in innovation without reducing your profit margin.
To qualify for the Wbso subsidie, you must meet a number of conditions, including accurate time registration. In this article, you will learn more about the WBSO and why it is important to keep precise records.
You can submit your application for the WBSO up to September 30 of the current year. The subsidy period always starts on the first day of the month following your submission.
The application must be well-formulated. This includes a clear project description, clearly explaining the technical challenges and why your work qualifies as R&D. You also need to provide an estimate of the hours your team will spend on R&D activities.
Maximizing Your R&D Tax Benefits with the WBSO Subsidy
In addition, you must keep meticulous records of the R&D activities you conduct. These records can be inspected by the RVO at any time. During this inspection, the RVO checks whether your administration meets all the required conditions.
Deloitte can help you optimise your application and set up your administration (for IT projects we even have a tool that relieves your developers of the time-consuming administrative tasks for the WBSO by automatically generating reports on the time spent based on code commits and guaranteeing full compliance with the WBSO regulations). We can also carry out administration checks in preparation for a control visit by the RVO and assist you in submitting the notification. In this way, you can make maximum use of the benefits offered by the WBSO and the Innovation Box, which allows you to apply for a lower tax rate on the resulting profits.
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