Extra funding for start-ups and scale-ups

20th of June 2019 | Door:  Jasper Gorter

The government is going to invest € 65 million in improvements to the business climate for start-ups and scale-ups. The assistance primarily targets financing and personnel. The overall goal of these measures is to rank the Netherlands as one of the top areas in the world for start-ups and scale-ups.

Source: SRA – Publication date: 17-06-2019

Capital measures

The extra funding deployed for capital measures is aimed at improving access to venture capital and research into developing a tax facility with regard to share options for personnel.

Personnel measures

The measures directed at start-up personnel consist of a residency scheme for essential personnel from outside the EU and free access to the labour market for the partners of foreign self-employed entrepreneurs in the Netherlands.

Fiscal value of share options

A facility in the area of share options is needed because start-ups and scale-ups are often not yet capable of paying the high salaries of permanent high-quality personnel. For that reason, the possibility of changing the taxation on share options for these companies is being investigated.

Please note!

There is already a tax facility for employees of start-ups which only taxes share options at 75% up to a maximum benefit of € 50,000.

Realisation

At the moment, share options are taxed at the time they are exercised. It is currently being investigated whether it is possible to delay the time the tax is levied to the moment when the option is realised by selling the shares acquired.

Extra € 20 million

In order to attract venture capital, the government is also setting up a fund for key technologies; there will be an investment fund for scale-ups; and € 20 million extra is being earmarked for a tender for sustainable funds.