On your Tozo!

March 31st, 2021

The Dutch government has offered various measures to support businesses which have lost revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. One of these is the Tozo (the tijdelijke overbruggingsregeling zelfstandig ondernemers or temporary bridging rule for freelancers). 


Blue Umbrella’s tax experts have seen that this could cause some element of confusion for freelancers who have a fiscal partner and who applied for this subsidy to top up their income to the minimum level. 


Although the first two rounds of the ruling, Tozo 1 and Tozo 2, did not depend on your own savings or the income of your fiscal partner, the last measure from 1 October 2020 to 1 April 2021, Tozo 3, does. 


‘If you applied as a solo entrepreneur for the Tozo, at first you only needed to register your income but not the income of your partner,’ says a Blue Umbrella expert. ‘But in the last Tozo, they do a test on the income of your partner and your savings, even if your income is zero.’ 


This will be reflected in the tax records you (and your fiscal partner) will see held by the Belastingdienst tax office when you go to file your 2020 income tax return, so beware, and check that all details are correct. 


Blue Umbrella has helped many of its business clients apply for Dutch governmental support but the Tozo rulings are managed by local district gemeenten so this is something you’ll need to do yourself.  


It has emerged that some businesses may also have to pay back some other government coronavirus subsidies from last year, apparently due to irregularities in their salary sheets, although this has not currently happened to any Blue Umbrella clients. ‘Our advice is to always seek help from an expert!’ says the spokesperson.