From 31 December 2026 the presumption of employment applies. If you work as a self-employed painter for a painting company or contractor 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. If you rely on the presumption, the company must prove in court that you work independently. The rule does not apply to work for private customers.
In short
- The presumption takes effect on 31 December 2026. The threshold is € 38 an hour (as of 1 January 2026), without VAT and without paint and other materials.
- It only applies when your client is a business. Work for private customers falls outside it.
- If the court finds you are an employee, the painters' collective agreement with a minimum wage applies. From 1 January 2027 the tax authority can again impose default penalties.
In this article
- What changes on 31 December 2026?
- Which hourly rate counts for the presumption?
- Does the presumption also apply when you paint for private customers?
- What does it mean if you work in a painting company's crew?
- What do you get if the court finds you are an employee?
- Does the tax authority test the hourly rate, and which penalties follow?
- Why does the legislator look at low rates?
- What do you arrange as a self-employed painter in subcontracting?
What changes on 31 December 2026?
The Civil Code gains a new article 7:610aa. Anyone who works for another party for pay no higher than the threshold per hour is presumed to do so under an employment contract (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2026, 158). The law takes effect on 31 December 2026 (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, you can go to court. Your client must then prove 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 the threshold does not automatically become an employee (KVK, legal presumption). If you are happy with your arrangements, nothing changes for you.
Which hourly rate counts for the presumption?
The law states € 36 an hour. That amount rises 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 paint and other materials, a mobile scaffold hired for that job or a colleague you engage, 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. Costs that do not belong to a single job, such as your van, insurance and administration, are not deducted.
Does the presumption also apply when you paint 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). Painting a living room for a homeowner therefore falls outside it, even at a low rate.
For a painter it therefore matters mainly in subcontracting: work for painting companies, contractors, maintenance firms and other business clients. An owners' association or housing association is not a private individual within the meaning of this article either.
What does it mean if you work in a painting company's crew?
Then you look more like an employee, even above the rate threshold. The tax authority names three features of employment: the possibility of employer authority, the duty to do the work personally, and pay for the work (tax authority, when is there employment). The hourly rate is only one of the circumstances besides these.
To test authority, the tax authority asks the client a few questions. Can he decide how, when, where and with whom you work? And can he give you the same instructions as his own employees, if you do the same work? If the answer is yes one or more times, that is a strong indication of authority (tax authority, when is there employment).
That is exactly what happens in a painting crew: the same facade, the same site manager's schedule, side by side with employed painters. The tax authority also weighs how far you are part of the organisation, whether you run a commercial risk, how many clients you have and how long you work for one client (tax authority, when is there employment).
What do you get if the court finds you are an employee?
The rights of an employee. If the company cannot prove that there is no employment contract, you can claim rights such as continued pay during sickness and protection against dismissal (Ondernemersplein). The company must then employ you (KVK, legal presumption).
As an employee of a painting company you are covered by the collective agreement for the painting, finishing, property maintenance and glazing sector, the cao SAVG. It runs from 1 November 2025 to 31 December 2028 (OnderhoudNL, collective agreement). The minister declared it generally binding from 18 August 2026, for two years. It then also applies to companies that are not members of the employers' organisation (Government Gazette 2026, 27574).
The pay table of that agreement shows an hourly wage of € 24.05 for pay group 5, middle step, from 1 January 2026 (Government Gazette 2026, 27574, annex 5). The all-round painter is in job group 5 in the job table. As an employee you build up a pension with BPF Schilders, through your employer (BPF Schilders).
Does the tax authority test the hourly rate, and which penalties follow?
No, the tax authority does not test against the presumption itself. The presumption only works in the civil courts. The UWV, the tax authority and the Labour Inspectorate cannot rely on it. If a court has ruled after an appeal to the presumption that there is an employment contract, they can, however, rely on that ruling (explanatory memorandum, section 4.6).
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). From 1 January 2027 those last parts of the soft landing also lapse (letter to parliament, parliamentary paper 31 311, no. 302).
The tax authority can again collect additional tax with retroactive effect, but as a rule not further back than 1 January 2025 (tax authority, enforcement). If there is employment, the client must withhold and pay payroll taxes (tax authority, when is there employment). So the risk of an additional assessment lies with the painting 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 see solo self-employment as a form of underemployment for some people. They propose applying minimum wage rules to this work and reconsidering tax advantages that can hide disguised employment. The research is from outside the Netherlands and not specifically about painting work.
The presumption fits that line of thinking. The government derived the hourly rate from what an employee in the same pay bracket costs, with a mark-up for a self-employed person's costs (explanatory memorandum).
What do you arrange as a self-employed painter in subcontracting?
Keep your rate well above the threshold. For each job, work back to an hourly rate without VAT and without paint, and count preparation and purchasing as hours. If you are around € 38, a setback such as extra wood rot or a rainy day can already put you on the wrong side.
Work for more than one client, with your own tools, scaffold and van, and give a quote for each job with a price for the result. That shows that you run a commercial risk and behave as an entrepreneur, two points the tax authority names (tax authority, when is there employment).
Also keep an eye on the next law. The Self-Employed Act, which is meant to give certainty in advance about whether you work 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). The proposal includes at least three clients per two calendar years.
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. 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), Employment relationships and enforcement, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- State Secretary for Finance, Letter to parliament on the soft landing for enforcement of false self-employment, parliamentary paper 31 311, no. 302, 19 December 2025. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- OnderhoudNL, The collective agreement, accessed 24 October 2026. onderhoudnl.nl
- Decree declaring the collective agreement for the painting, finishing, property maintenance and glazing sector generally binding, Government Gazette 2026, 27574. officielebekendmakingen.nl
- BPF Schilders, A good start in four steps, accessed 24 October 2026. bpfschilders.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