Mandatory pension with BPF Schilders as a self-employed painter: who is covered and what does it cost in 2026?

Yes, as a self-employed painter you must build up a pension with BPF Schilders, the industry pension fund for the painting, finishing and glazing sector. That also applies if you have no staff. You choose how much pension you build up, between a minimum and a maximum. In 2026 you pay € 174.42 every four weeks at the minimum.

The premium is deductible as business costs. If you work through your own private limited company and you are its owner-director, you are usually not covered yourself. Your employees are.

In this article

1. Must you build up a pension with BPF Schilders as a self-employed painter?
2. Which work falls under BPF Schilders?
3. Has a court tested the obligation for the self-employed?
4. How do you join BPF Schilders?
5. How much premium do you pay in 2026?
6. Can you deduct the premium?
7. What if you have a private limited company?
8. Why is the pension mandatory here rather than voluntary?

Must you build up a pension with BPF Schilders as a self-employed painter?

Yes. Participation is mandatory for all industry members in the painting, finishing and glazing sector aged 16 and over until state pension age. An industry member also includes anyone who runs the business as a self-employed worker without employees (mandatory participation decree, Government Gazette 2015, 31061).

BPF Schilders says so itself: the law makes the collective pension scheme mandatory, and that also applies to self-employed entrepreneurs (BPF Schilders, deregistering). So it is not a choice and not an extra from the trade association. The fund actively checks whether everyone in the sector takes part (BPF Schilders, a good start in four steps).

Which work falls under BPF Schilders?

Painting and preparatory work such as cleaning, levelling and repairing surfaces. Also wallpapering and other wall finishing, glazing, insulating cavity walls, roof boards and floors, putting up scaffolding for this work and directly supervising people who do it (BPF Schilders, deregistering).

What counts is what your business actually does, regardless of the registration with the KVK or the name of your business (BPF Schilders, deregistering). If you are registered as a handyman business but mostly paint, you can still be covered. Floor coverings, panelling and curtains are not included.

If your work changes, BPF Schilders only deregisters you when most of your work no longer falls under it. You must be able to show that, for example with the descriptions on your invoices and your website (BPF Schilders, deregistering). If you stop altogether, the membership ends after you have deregistered your business with the KVK (BPF Schilders, frequently asked questions).

Has a court tested the obligation for the self-employed?

Yes. An association of self-employed people in construction and a number of self-employed painters challenged the obligation. The Hague Court of Appeal ruled on 22 December 2020 that mandatory participation of self-employed painters in BPF Schilders does not breach competition law (Hague Court of Appeal, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2020:2384).

The court also agreed with the district court that mandatory participation under the Mandatory Industry Pension Fund Participation Act 2000 can be extended to the self-employed. The district court's judgment was upheld (Hague Court of Appeal, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2020:2384). So the obligation also applies to the self-employed.

How do you join BPF Schilders?

Through your registration with the KVK. BPF Schilders regularly receives new registrations in the sector from the KVK. The fund then asks you to call first and assesses from your answers whether you are covered (BPF Schilders, a good start in four steps).

If you are covered, BPF Schilders registers you and you receive a message. You then enter your expected taxable profit in the online pension administration. If you do not, the fund uses the minimum chosen pension salary (BPF Schilders, a good start in four steps). The chosen pension salary is the amount on which you choose to build up a pension.

How much premium do you pay in 2026?

That depends on the chosen pension salary. In 2026 it is between € 26,250 and € 64,911. At the minimum you pay € 174.42 per period, at the maximum € 1,029.70 (BPF Schilders, chosen pension salary). You receive an invoice every four weeks for 1/13th of the annual premium, so thirteen invoices a year (BPF Schilders, paying the premium).

At the minimum that is 13 times € 174.42, or € 2,267.46 a year. In 2026 the premium consists of 27.64% of the pension salary minus the franchise, plus 1.23% of the pension salary for partner's and orphan's pension (BPF Schilders, pension premium). The franchise, the part on which you build up no pension, is € 19,184 a year in 2026 (BPF Schilders, premium percentages and variables 2026).

Your pension salary may not be higher than your taxable profit. BPF Schilders looks at the profit of three years earlier, because that tax return is final by then. If you work fewer than 1,750 hours, your profit is converted to a full year (BPF Schilders, chosen pension salary). How that works out exactly in your first year is best checked with BPF Schilders.

The premium also continues during the summer construction holiday and the winter break, because it is based on a whole year (BPF Schilders, chosen pension salary). If you cannot pay an invoice, you may not deregister for that reason. You can request a payment plan of at most six months (BPF Schilders, deregistering).

Can you deduct the premium?

Yes, as business costs. If as a business owner you participate compulsorily in an industry pension scheme under the Mandatory Industry Pension Fund Participation Act 2000, you may deduct the premiums paid for your pension accrual as business costs (Belastingdienst, professional pension premiums). So the premium lowers your profit.

There is a limit, though. If you build up more pension than your taxable profit allows, the Belastingdienst does not accept the excess premium as business costs (BPF Schilders, chosen pension salary). If you choose voluntary extra pension with the fund, you may deduct at most one third of the mandatory premium for that each year (Belastingdienst, professional pension premiums).

If you also save through an annuity, have the remaining room calculated. How your accrual with BPF Schilders affects that room exactly is something to check with BPF Schilders or your bookkeeper.

What if you have a private limited company?

Then you are usually not covered by BPF Schilders yourself. The mandatory participation decree says that an owner-director who is not insured under the statutory employee insurance schemes is not an industry member (mandatory participation decree, Government Gazette 2015, 31061). An owner-director is the director who also holds a large part of the shares.

Your employees are covered, though. If you hire a first employee, that person builds up a pension with BPF Schilders (BPF Schilders, a good start in four steps). That applies to a sole proprietorship with staff and to a company with staff.

Do not choose a company just to avoid the premium. Without a mandatory scheme you arrange your pension entirely yourself, and a company has its own costs and rules. Whether a company is worthwhile for you depends on your profit and your plans. Have it calculated case by case.

Why is the pension mandatory here rather than voluntary?

Because most people do not save enough of their own accord. A large Danish study with 41 million observations found that about 85% of people are passive savers. They hardly respond to tax advantages, but do save when contributions are made for them automatically (Chetty and others, 2014).

According to those researchers, each dollar the government spends on subsidies for retirement saving increases total saving by only 1 cent, because people mainly shift money. Automatic contributions do increase wealth substantially (Chetty and others, 2014). A US study of employer pension plans saw the same: with automatic enrolment far more people took part, and a large share stayed with the default contribution (Madrian & Shea, 2001).

Those studies concerned employees in Denmark and the United States, not Dutch self-employed people. They do explain why a mandatory scheme achieves more than a tax advantage alone. For you as a painter it mainly means: include the premium in your hourly rate, because it comes back every four weeks.

Sources

• Decree of the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment of 15 September 2015 amending mandatory participation in the industry pension fund for the painting, finishing and glazing sector, Government Gazette 2015, 31061. officielebekendmakingen.nl
• Hague Court of Appeal, 22 December 2020, case number 200.264.993/01, ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2020:2384. uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl
• BPF Schilders, A good start in four steps, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Chosen pension salary, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Pension premium, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Premium percentages and variables 2026, 15 December 2025. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Paying the premium, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Deregistering your business, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• BPF Schilders, Frequently asked questions for business owners, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.nl
• Belastingdienst, Professional pension premiums: limited deduction, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Chetty, R., Friedman, J.N., Leth-Petersen, S., Nielsen, T.H. & Olsen, T. (2014). Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(3), 1141-1219. doi.org
• Madrian, B.C. & Shea, D.F. (2001). The Power of Suggestion: Inertia in 401(k) Participation and Savings Behavior. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(4), 1149-1187. doi.org