In connection with the corona virus, the government has announced various measures to provide financial support to entrepreneurs. For instance, employers can apply for shorter working hours and part-time unemployment through the NOW scheme. Also, entrepreneurs and self-employed people can now get special deferral of payments for income tax, corporate income tax, sales tax (VAT) and payroll tax.
The Inland Revenue grants special deferral of payment if the entrepreneur can justify in writing how the corona virus outbreak has caused him to have payment problems. Once the request for postponement of payment is received by the Tax Authorities, the Tax Authorities will halt collection. Substantive assessment of the request will take place at a later date.
When requesting a postponement of payment, the Inland Revenue asks for a third-party expert statement. The entrepreneur must send this statement no later than 2 weeks after the request is sent. That statement must show that:
The third expert can be an external consultant, an external financier, a trade association, an in-house accountant or a financial adviser. Incidentally, the Inland Revenue may ask for collateral or impose further conditions.
Furthermore, in the coming period, the Inland Revenue will omit or reverse a default penalty for failure to pay (on time). The Tax and Customs Administration processes requests for deferral of payment manually, so the processing time per request can be considerable.
Entrepreneurs expecting lower profits due to the corona virus outbreak and paying a provisional income tax or corporate tax assessment can apply for a reduction of the provisional assessment. The request for reduction of the provisional assessment will be immediately granted by the Tax Administration, so less tax has to be paid immediately.
With regard to income tax, the provisional assessment can be changed via My Tax Office. With regard to corporate income tax, this can be done via Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk.
If you apply for a postponement of payment with the Tax Office, keep in mind that you are still obliged to file your tax return on time.
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