From 31 December 2026 the presumption of employment applies in the Netherlands. If you work as a self-employed electrician for an installation company at an hourly rate no higher than the threshold, you are presumed to be its employee. The threshold is € 38 an hour (as of 1 January 2026), the amount for 31 December 2026 has yet to be published.
A low rate is not prohibited and you do not automatically become an employee. The installation company must prove in court that you work independently. The rule does not apply to jobs for private customers.
In short
- The presumption takes effect on 31 December 2026. The threshold is € 38 an hour (as of 1 January 2026), excluding VAT and without material costs. The amount for 31 December 2026 will follow.
- It only applies when your client is a business. Work for private customers falls outside it.
- The tax authority does not test against the hourly rate, but against work, pay and authority. Default penalties are possible again from 1 January 2027.
In this article
- What changes on 31 December 2026?
- Which hourly rate counts for the presumption?
- Does the presumption also apply when you work for private customers?
- Does the tax authority test against the hourly rate?
- Which penalties can follow from 2027?
- Why does the legislator look at low rates?
- What do you arrange as a self-employed electrician in subcontracting?
What changes on 31 December 2026?
On 31 December 2026 the Civil Code gains a new article 7:610aa. Anyone who works for another party at an hourly rate no higher than the threshold is presumed to do so under an employment contract (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158). The date is set in a separate decree (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207).
A legal presumption is a starting point in the law that the other party has to rebut. If, as a self-employed person, you want to be an employee and your client does not, that client must prove in court that it is an independent assignment after all (KVK, legal presumption).
A low rate is not prohibited. You may agree your own price, and anyone earning less than € 38 does not automatically become an employee (KVK, legal presumption). The court looks at all the circumstances, and the hourly rate is one of them.
Which hourly rate counts for the presumption?
The law states € 36 an hour. That amount moves with the minimum wage and has been € 38 an hour since 1 January 2026 (Ondernemersplein). For first application the minister sets the amount in a ministerial regulation (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158, article III). On 24 October 2026 that regulation had not yet been published.
What counts is what you are actually paid for your work, without VAT. Costs that belong directly to the job, such as materials, hiring equipment for that job or engaging someone else, are deducted first (explanatory memorandum, parliamentary paper 36 783, no. 3).
You divide that amount by the hours that belong directly to the job. That includes preparation time and the time spent buying materials (explanatory memorandum). If you work for a fixed price per job, this is how you work back to your hourly rate.
Does the presumption also apply when you work for private customers?
No. The article does not apply if the client is a natural person who is not acting in the course of a profession or business (article 7:610aa paragraph 3 of the Civil Code). Replacing a consumer unit for a homeowner therefore falls outside it, even at a low rate.
The government chose this because private customers would otherwise have to show themselves that there is no employment contract. The presumption is meant for workers at the lower end of the labour market with a weak bargaining position (explanatory memorandum).
For an electrician it therefore matters mainly in subcontracting: work for installation companies, contractors and other business clients.
Does the tax authority test against the hourly rate?
No, not by itself. The UWV, the tax authority and the Labour Inspectorate do not test independently against the presumption, but against work, pay and authority (explanatory memorandum). The presumption is a tool for the worker in court.
Once a worker has successfully relied on the presumption, those organisations will in principle follow the court's ruling (explanatory memorandum). A court case brought by one subcontractor can therefore affect the installation company's payroll taxes.
The tax authority looks at three core points: the client's authority, the duty to do the work personally, and pay for the work. In addition it weighs the nature and duration of the work, how far you are part of the organisation, whether you run a commercial risk and whether you behave as an entrepreneur (tax authority, when is there employment).
Which penalties can follow from 2027?
Since 1 January 2026 the tax authority can impose penalties for intent or gross negligence in cases of false self-employment. In 2026 it imposes no default penalties yet (tax authority, enforcement). A default penalty is a fine for not meeting, or late meeting of, an obligation such as withholding payroll taxes.
From 1 January 2027 those last parts of the soft landing also lapse. The State Secretary for Finance wrote this in a letter to parliament of 19 December 2025 (letter to parliament, partial extension of the soft landing). Default penalties are then possible again.
Since 1 January 2025 the tax authority can again collect additional tax with retroactive effect (tax authority, enforcement). If there is employment, the client must withhold and pay payroll taxes (tax authority, when is there employment). The risk of an additional assessment therefore lies with the installation company.
Why does the legislator look at low rates?
In most OECD countries the number of self-employed people without staff is growing faster than the number with staff. Economists Boeri, Giupponi, Krueger and Machin describe this in a 2020 review (Boeri and others, 2020).
Based on surveys in the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy, they find that solo self-employment is a form of underemployment for some people. They propose applying minimum wage rules to this work, and reconsidering tax advantages that can disguise dependent employment. The research is from outside the Netherlands and not specifically about installation work.
The presumption fits that line of thinking. It is linked to an hourly rate the government derived from what an employee in the same pay bracket costs, with a self-employed person's costs added (explanatory memorandum).
What do you arrange as a self-employed electrician in subcontracting?
Keep your rate well above the threshold. For each job, work back to an hourly rate without VAT and without materials, and count preparation and purchasing as hours. If you are around € 38, a small windfall or setback can already put you on the wrong side.
Work for more than one client. How far you are part of the installation company's organisation counts for the tax authority (tax authority, when is there employment). Anyone who works for just one company, on its schedule and in its clothing, looks more like an employee.
Use your own tools, test equipment and van, and give a quote for each job. That shows that you run a commercial risk and behave as an entrepreneur, two points the tax authority names. In the quote, set out what you will deliver, not how many hours you are available.
Also keep an eye on the next law. The Self-Employed Act, meant to describe more clearly when someone works independently, is still a proposal. The online consultation runs until 29 October 2026, and the law will take effect in 2028 at the earliest (KVK, the new Self-Employed Act).
Sources
- Act of 18 June 2026 amending Book 7 of the Civil Code to introduce a presumption of an employment contract based on an hourly rate, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Decree of 13 July 2026 setting the date of entry into force, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 207. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- Explanatory memorandum, parliamentary paper 36 783, no. 3, 9 July 2025. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- KVK, Are you really self-employed with an hourly rate below 38 euros?, updated 7 October 2026. kvk.nl
- Ondernemersplein, Low hourly rate of self-employed person can lead to employment contract, accessed 24 October 2026. ondernemersplein.overheid.nl
- Tax authority (Belastingdienst), When is there employment?, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Tax authority (Belastingdienst), Enforcement of employment relationships, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- State Secretary for Finance, Partial extension of the soft landing for enforcement of false self-employment, parliamentary paper 31 311, no. 302, 19 December 2025. tweedekamer.nl
- KVK, The new Self-Employed Act explained, updated 8 October 2026. kvk.nl
- Boeri, T., Giupponi, G., Krueger, A.B. and Machin, S. (2020). Solo self-employment and alternative work arrangements: a cross-country perspective on the changing composition of jobs. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(1), 170-195. doi.org