False self-employment (Wet DBA) in 2026: what it means for you as a freelancer
Do you work as a freelancer (ZZP'er) for one client, on fixed days, under their direction? Then one Dutch term matters a lot in 2026: schijnzelfstandigheid — false self-employment. The Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) checks for it again this year. Don't panic — here is what it is, in plain English, and how to stay on the right side.
What is the Wet DBA?
The Wet DBA is the Dutch law that decides whether you are a genuine independent, or really a disguised employee. If you are a freelancer on paper but in practice work like someone in salaried employment, that is false self-employment.
This is not a small detail. Employment comes with payroll tax and social premiums. If the tax office decides the relationship was really employment, the client can get a back-tax bill (naheffing) — and that affects you as the contractor too.
What changed in 2026?
Important context: 2025 was a transition year with a "soft landing". The tax office did not yet impose penalties for (non-intentional) false self-employment.
For 2026 the line is stricter:
- Default penalties (verzuimboetes) are still not imposed in 2026.
- But penalty fines for intent or gross negligence (vergrijpboetes) are possible from 1 January 2026 — for both the client and the freelancer.
- A back-tax assessment on payroll levies can apply retroactively to 1 January 2025.
In practice the tax office usually starts with a company visit to the client to look at the situation. A warning or a books investigation can follow.
When are you "genuinely" self-employed?
No single feature decides it. The tax office looks at the whole picture. It leans towards employment when these three are present together:
- Authority — your client decides how, where and when you work (direction and supervision).
- Personal work — you must do the work yourself and cannot freely send a replacement.
- Pay — you receive fixed payment for the work.
It also matters whether you are embedded in the organisation (do you do the same work as the employees?) and whether you work at your own expense and risk.
How do you show you are a real entrepreneur?
You strengthen your position by behaving like a genuine business:
- Work for several clients, not structurally for just one.
- Set your own rate and negotiate it.
- Carry entrepreneurial risk: arrange your own insurance, tools and workspace.
- Make sure you could send a replacement if needed.
- Send your own invoices and keep tidy records of your own.
- Be registered at the KVK (Chamber of Commerce) and present yourself as a business.
What about the model agreement?
A model agreement (modelovereenkomst) can help, but it gives no guarantee. Existing model agreements approved by the tax office may still be used until 31 December 2029; new ones are no longer reviewed. What matters most is that in practice you really work the way the paper says. New legislation on self-employment is also on the way — keep an eye on the developments.
How BoekBrug helps
Proving you are genuinely independent is, in large part, about your administration: your own invoices to different clients, tidily recorded. In BoekBrug you create and send your own invoices, scan your receipts, and keep everything in one place — exactly the kind of evidence that shows you work as an entrepreneur. And if you have an accountant, you share it through the Bridge.
Create a first invoice for free below, or make a free account to set up your admin properly from the start.