Home Material aid

Types of material assistance and social benefits

Anything can happen in life, sometimes we find ourselves in a difficult financial situation and there are not always those around who can help. In this case, you need to turn to the state for help. However, when it comes to benefits and benefits, many people have an established opinion that: “I’m not a Dutch citizen, so I’m not entitled to anything” or “if I don’t pay any taxes, then I have no right to receive anything.”

Fortunately, both of these statements are wrong.

Any resident of the Netherlands who is in a difficult financial situation has the right to state assistance. Even if you receive a temporary residence permit, you automatically become a “Dutch taxable”, and since you are one, then all laws, both on duties and rights, apply to you accordingly.

Concept Dutch taxable detailed in the section on taxation in the Netherlands. To recap, this is a person or enterprise that meets one of two conditions:

  1. Either he lives (has a place of registration) in the Netherlands, or
  2. He has a source of income in the Netherlands (you can read in more detail here)

Since you are reading this article, then most likely you either already belong to one of the listed groups, or will soon belong. And that means everything, the rest of what is stated here also concerns you directly.

As you know, Holland is very concerned about the social security of its citizens. There are many different programs to help the elderly, disabled, young people, students, refugees, low-income, semi-literate, people with addiction, mental problems, etc. etc.

But in this case, we will consider only the material part of this care, which is used in one form or another, probably by more than 80% of the population.

So what types of assistance exist, who are they entitled to, how much and what is needed to receive them?

In the Netherlands, there are several types of financial assistance to individuals, which can be counted on by people with low earnings or who are in a difficult financial situation due to illness or disability. They can be divided into three groups, namely:

  • The first and most extensive type is the manual (payment).
  • The second - the most commonly used is a surcharge (bijslag).
  • The third, which depends primarily on the amount of income, is a subsidy (allowance).

It is also impossible not to mention student funding (studio finance). So, for example, in addition to regular cash receipts, they also enjoy a host of other benefits, one of which is the payment for public transport.

You can read more about this in the section on benefits and payments to students, so here we will not dwell on them in detail.

I would like to draw the attention of readers to the fact that the concepts of tax discounts and reduction of the tax base are often confused with material payments (material assistance). These payments have nothing to do with “tax refunds”. But they have a direct impact both on taxes and on each other.

Let's dwell on each of the above types of material assistance.

Benefits (payment)

These are systematic payments to those who, under certain circumstances, cannot have sufficient income for life.
The most common types of benefits are:

  • unemployment benefits- unemployment benefit
  • arbeidsongeschiktheidsuitkering- disability benefit
  • social assistance benefit -support allowance (material assistance) for those who are not working

Less used, but also possible:

  • special assistance - allowance in exceptional cases and
  • langdurigheidstoeslag - which is actually a subsidy (see subsidies).

The first two benefits are assigned by the organization UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Employees Insurance), and the rest - by the local government Township. UWV - this is the first organization where you need to apply for benefits. And only if you do not meet the conditions for calculating benefits, the municipality will take care of you.

Surcharges (bijslag)

Unlike neighboring Belgium, we do not have so many surcharges, but still, here are some of the most used ones:

  • child benefits - financial assistance for a child is the most famous and used type of additional social benefits
  • holiday allowance - less well-known, but also often used type - surcharge for overworked hours, as well as for unused vacation or free days
  • state pension bijslag – additional payment up to the minimum pension
  • There are other types of additional payments, for example, to widows, in case of an accident at work, etc., on which we will not dwell here in detail.

Subsidy (allowance)

At the moment, 4 subsidies can be safely considered the most used:

  • rent allowance - to pay for rented housing
  • healthcare allowance - to pay for health insurance
  • childcare allowance - to pay for kindergarten
  • child-related budget - for the maintenance of children

And a few more, much less commonly used:

  • langdurigheidstoeslag - a subsidy intended for people with low income for a long time.
  • Tegemoetkoming arbeidsongeschikten - for people with physical or mental disabilities or for those who are ill for a long time
  • allowance BMP - for owners of environmentally friendly vehicles.
  • allowance state pension - for retirees, subsidy for a partner who has not reached retirement age
logo nalog

What do you think of this site? *

The purpose of your appeal?

Do not enter any personal information such as name, social security number, or phone number. We do not respond to questions, comments and complaints that come through this form.

cancellation