The number of registered freelancers in the Netherlands fell by 4,000 in January, according to Chamber of Commerce figures.
The drop had been expected because of the government’s crack down on sham self-employment, which came into effect this year.
Using freelancers who are effectively ordinary workers – because they do the same job as staffers, don’t get to choose their hours, and are told what to do – has been banned since 2016. And the tax office, which has turned a blind eye so far, has said it will start cracking down on sham self-employment in 2025.
The number of people registering as a freelancer in the first month of the year was down 18% on the year, at 17,100 while 19,555 people stopped – a rise of 47%, the KvK said.
“Fewer people are starting out as self employed and more are stopping,” the KvK said. “This trend was already visible in December and is now continuing.”
The private security sector lost most freelancers, followed by farming, childcare and home nursing.
ABN Amro estimates some 250,000 freelancers, or ZZP’ers, could be affected by the crackdown, which will initially focus on employers not the self-employed themselves.
The rules are a particular problem in healthcare, where the number of freelancers has risen by 60% and now accounts for some 10% of the total workforce. The situation is similar in the transport sector, ABN Amro said.
In the construction sector, however, freelancers are more likely to be used for specific jobs and have their own tools, and so are less likely to fall under the rules.
According to national statistics agency CBS, some 1.25 million people in the Netherlands are entirely or partly self-employed.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.
We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.
Source: Freelancer total drops for second month as tax crackdown starts – DutchNews.nl
