The coronavirus (COVID-19) is currently dominating our personal lives but it also has an unprecedented impact on businesses financially. Organisations around the globe have been hit hard by uncertainty and the impact of measures imposed to limit the rapid spreading of the virus.
The Dutch government has introduced several schemes throughout the year that may support your business on a financial economic level. The specialists at VanLoman are well informed about all these schemes and will gladly assist you in applying the correct schemes to your company.
Cashflow management
n times of financial crisis, cashflow management is more important than ever. A close look at your pattern of income and expenditure may substantially improve control over your liquidity position. At VanLoman, we help our clients achieve better control over the payment of taxes and ensure a timely refund of previously paid taxes.
By taking into account the financial impact of COVID-19, it may already be possible to adjust your internal transfer pricing. In addition, once the financial impact on your business for this year is clear, the taxable amount on the corporate income tax assessment can be lowered which results in direct cash flow benefits.
Smart use of tax loss settlement for corporate income tax may also yield a positive cashflow for your company. If a loss is incurred this year, for example, that loss can be set off against a profit from the previous year. In that case, it may be advisable to submit the corporate income tax return quickly, allowing for a faster refund of previously paid corporate income tax immediately after the submission of that tax return, under certain conditions.
There are also options to improve your cashflow position in the area of VAT. Costs are ongoing, while the turnover tends to fall for a lot of businesses. This has pushed more businesses into an effective VAT refund position on their VAT returns. If your company structurally asks for a VAT refund on its VAT returns, it may be useful to file monthly VAT returns (instead of quarterly). That way, the company will receive quicker refunds from the Dutch Tax Authorities. Another way to benefit more quickly from a VAT refund position is the option to set off VAT against payroll taxes. In that case, the VAT refund position reduces the amount of payroll taxes owed, which has an immediate positive effect on your cashflow.
NOW scheme
The temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Sustained Employment (NOW, short for Noodmaatregel Overbrugging Werkgelegenheid) was created to help employers deal with loss of turnover due to the corona crisis. The NOW has three different application periods (also known as NOW 1.0, NOW 2.0 and NOW 3.0), which each have their own rules and effects. VanLoman can help you navigate this maze of rules so that you can remain focused on your company.
Other corona measures on which VanLoman’s experts regularly give advice include:
- Temporary reduction of interest on overdue and underpaid taxes
- Covid measures on the hourly criterion for private individual entrepreneurs
- No VAT on the sale of face masks after 25 May
- Application of reduced VAT rates for online sports lessons
- Expansion of the tax-free margin
- Conditional cancellation of fines incurred for failing to pay
- Unblocking of and withdrawal from G account
- Travel restrictions and substance requirements
Would you like more information on this topic? download our whitepaper here.