As you may know, there are quite some upcoming changes to the legislation in the Netherlands not only from a tax perspective but also from a social security point of view. In this respect, we wish to draw your attention to a change in the Dutch social security legislation that will affect formal split employment situations, if employees are subject to the Dutch employees’ insurances and health insurance.
Current situation
A Belgian employer who employs an individual who is subject to Dutch employees’ insurance and health insurance, has the obligation to affiliate with the Dutch tax authorities and pay Dutch employer contributions for the employees’ insurance and health insurance (“premie WW”, “premie WIA” and “inkomensafhankelijke premie ZVW”). If this individual has two legal employers (split contract) – of which the other is located in the Netherlands – both employers need to be affiliated and pay Dutch employer contributions for the employees’ insurance and health insurance on the salary paid. To the extent that the total amount of the Dutch employer contributions transferred by both employers to the Dutch tax authorities exceeded the maximum contribution, the excess was – under the current legislation – refundable after the end of the income year.
Situation as of 1 January 2013
As of 1 January 2013, the abovementioned refund procedure (in the case of excessively paid Dutch employer contributions) will be abolished. As a result, every legal employer will have to pay (his portion of) the Dutch employer contributions for employees’ insurance and health insurance on the salary paid to the employee.
Consequently, in the case of a formal salary split, foreign employers must register in the Netherlands, which may lead to situations where the total maximum amount of Dutch employer contributions for employees’ insurance and health insurance will be exceeded and even paid multiple times, without any possibility for a refund.
