Self-employed persons who work in the Netherlands but live abroad will be denied access to the income support being offered to self-employed persons as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to a report in daily newspaper De Gelderlander. On the basis of figures from the Chamber of Commerce, there are around 2.5 million self-employed persons in the Netherlands in 2020. Some of them live outside the Netherlands, mostly in the border region. As a result, they will not be entitled to income support from the Dutch government in connection with the coronavirus crisis.

 

Conditions

The income support for self-employed persons is obtained through the local authority in the individual’s place of residence and a number of conditions are attached. Self-employed persons residing abroad do not meet the condition of living and being legally resident in the Netherlands.

 

No support abroad either

By their own account, self-employed persons also cannot obtain any financial support abroad, as they pay tax in the Netherlands and not in the country concerned. To address this situation and bring it to the attention of politicians, a petition that people can sign has been published online.

 

Support to become available after all?

The government has now (27 March 2020) announced that the question of whether support can be offered to entrepreneurs who have a business in the Netherlands and live abroad, or vice versa, will be urgently examined. According to the government, however, there is always an entitlement to support in the person’s country of residence.

 

Part-time self-employed persons also miss out

From the other conditions it seems that the support is also not intended for part-time self-employed persons. One of these other conditions states that persons must devote at least 1,225 hours a year to their business.