Subsidies
02.04.2019In the Netherlands, there are a number of subsidies (toeslagen) provided to support people and families with low incomes. In a difficult situation, any help is useful, and if you can get it from the state, then it is better to know about it.
In addition, there are payments that do not depend on your income, such as child support (kinderbijslag). They are not very big, but they are worth decorating.
What are the types of subsidies
There are 4 types of subsidies in the Netherlands:
- health care allowance (health insurance subsidies)
- Heartbeat (rental subsidy)
- Childcare allowance (kinderopvangtoeslag) (subsidy / reimbursement for kindergarten fees)
- Kindgebondenbudget (children's budget - money for spending on children under 18 years old, paid if there is a formalized child allowance child benefits)
To be eligible for a particular grant, the person requesting it must meet the established requirements. These requirements for each type of subsidy can be found in the links above.
How and when to apply for grants
Any grants are requested by September of the next reporting year. That is, a subsidy for 2023 can be requested until 01.09.2024/XNUMX/XNUMX. There are two options for obtaining subsidies:
- In advance. In this case, the subsidy will be transferred to you monthly.
Please note: After filing the tax return, a recalculation will be made. Depending on your income, it is possible that you will have to return part of the money overpaid to you. - At the same time. For the entire past year.
After September 1 of the year following the reporting year, you can only request a subsidy if you apply for a tax return deferral.
Changes to the grant request can be made until the eligibility deadline.
What is important to consider and what to think about when applying for a grant
Subsidies are only granted if eligible. If your circumstances (income, age of children, etc.) change, you may not be eligible for the subsidy. Subsidies paid in advance will continue to flow to you. However, later the tax authorities (Belastingdienst) will require the return of unreasonably received funds. Depending on the period of receipt of unjustified subsidies, the amount of the return may be quite large.
When requesting subsidies, it is important to file an annual tax return, even if it is zero. The reason is that if the declaration is not filed, Belastingdienst considers your income to be the same as last year. This may lead the tax authorities to believe that you are not eligible for the subsidy.
Good to know!
Sometimes a person as a whole does not meet the conditions for receiving subsidies, but meets them at certain periods. If you file a declaration through Nalog.nl, our experts check this possibility. Accordingly, the chances of receiving a tax refund increase.
When to expect payments
If subsidies are issued as advance payments for the next month, they arrive on the 20th of the current month +/- a couple of days, depending on weekends or holidays. This is important to keep in mind if your situation has changed and you need to cancel the subsidy. This should be done in advance.
In what cases the payment of subsidies can be stopped
In some cases, subsidies may be stopped. For example, this happens if your residence permit has expired. The municipality will receive this information and all payments will be stopped for you. If you receive a subsidy for the payment of health insurance (zorgtoeslag), payments will be stopped if you have not paid for the insurance itself.
When is it important to think about canceling payments yourself?
This must be done if you have applied for advance payments of subsidies and your situation has changed: you earn more money, your child is 18 years old, you retired, you bought a house, you got married or divorced, and so on.
If you have doubts about how profitable it is in terms of the ratio of the abolition of subsidies and small earnings, or you have other questions about possible payments and their execution, contact us for consultation!
You can order the registration of subsidies in Nalog.nl using the links:
- health care allowance (health insurance subsidies)
- Rent allowance (rental subsidy)
- Childcare allowance (kinderopvangtoeslag) (subsidy / reimbursement for kindergarten fees)
- Kindgebondenbudget (children's budget - money for expenses for a child under 18 years old, paid if there is a formalized allowance for children child benefits)