Government measures in key jurisdictions 4th edition - Flipbook - Page 136
The Netherlands
On 10 April 2020, the measure has also been extended to include fisheries
and aquaculture companies. Companies within these sectors can make use of
the scheme retroactively per 18 March 2020.
Furthermore, the premium for the government guarantee has been decreased from 3% to
1.5% and from 1% to 0.5% for starters. The eligible companies make an application to the
accredited financier which is usually a bank. The accredited financiers can submit an
application to Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland. You can find the eligibility criteria
and the list of accredited financiers here.
•
The government introduced a scheme with a EUR 650 million budget for the compensation of
damages suffered by specific agricultural sectors as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Businesses in the ornamental horticulture sector and specific sections of food horticulture with a loss
in turnover of at least 30% were compensated for up to 70% of their loss in turnover in
March, April, May and June 2020. The benchmark was the average turnover in the same period
in three preceding years. As of 11 June 2020 only EUR 156 million of the available EUR 600 million was
requested.
Chip potato growers received compensation in relation to the quantity of potatoes they still had in
storage. The compensation applied to potatoes that can no longer be processed into chips for this
season. The total compensation amounted to 40 percent of the average market value of the potatoes
over the period from September 2019 up until February 2020. A total of EUR 50 million was made
available to this end. The schemes were not extended beyond 18 June 2020. Further details on the
measures may be found here and here.
Employment
•
What financial support
is the government
providing to
businesses and to
individuals on
employment issues?
A subsidy is available for employers that pay Dutch wages and expect to see at least a 20%
decline in turnover, for which the government has made available EUR 12.8 billion.
The scheme is known as NOW 2.0 and replaces the preceding furlough scheme. The benchmark
is the average turnover over the course of four months in 2019 for companies which existed in
2019. The subsidy is up to a maximum amount of 90% of the wage bill (the wages of all
employees) for the months June, July, August, and September. Only in the event of a 100%
decline in turnover, will 90% of the total wage bill be paid out. If the decline in turnover is
lower, the subsidy will be set at a proportionately lower level.
Based on the application, the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (the UWV) will pay an
advance payment of 80% of the estimated amount of the subsidy based on the expected
decline in turnover and the employers’ actual wage costs in March 2020. A final settlement
will take place on the basis of the actual turnover which normally requires an audit opinion.
In cases of a composition of legal entities, the decline in turnover is assessed at group level.
This means that if a group as a whole has a decline in turnover of less than 20%, the
individual members of that group are not eligible for a NOWsubsidy. A maximum of twice
the maximum daily wage per month per individual employee is taken into account as salary.
Compensation for each individual employee’s wage is capped at EUR 9,538 per month. As of
June 2020, a correction to the subsidy will be applied in case of dismissals. However, the
penalty for making employees redundant will no longer apply. Furthermore, the subsidy may
also be used for purposes other than the payment of wage costs. When using the scheme,
companies are prohibited, amongst other things, to make profit distributions to
shareholders, pay bonuses to the board and management, and/or repurchase their own
shares. Furthermore, companies must declare that employees will be encouraged to
retrain. Applications may be submitted via UWV.
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