WBSO for software projects

When it comes to digitization, the Netherlands is one of the world leaders. The impact of Dutch software companies on our economy and society is great. For example, thanks to digitization, factories can produce better, smarter and cheaper and hospitals become more efficient for doctors and patients. To maintain this leading position, our cabinet is investing a lot of money in research and development, for example through the WBSO.

What is the WBSO?

The Promotion and Research Act (WBSO) is a tax scheme that compensates part of the (wage) costs and expenses for research and development (R&D). Is your company engaged in software development? Then you may qualify for this.

Requirements:

The software development is technically new for your company;
The software is recorded in a formal programming language, such as Java, C #, C ++, PHP, Javascript, Ruby, Python and Go;
There are technical bottlenecks for which no ready-made solution is available;
Developments have yet to take place.

What does the WBSO deliver?

A WBSO statement entitles you to a reduction in payroll tax/ national insurance contributions to be paid. The R&D amount is made up of R&D wage costs and R&D costs and expenses. The WBSO advantage amounts to:

32% of the attributable R&D amount up to €350,000 (1st bracket)
16% of the attributable R&D amount above €350,000 (2nd bracket)
40% for technostarters (company <5 years registered Chamber of Commerce, and max. 3 years WBSO subsidy obtained) for the 1st installment. The percentage of the 2nd bracket is 16%

If the WBSO application is assessed (partially) positively, you will receive an R&D statement along with the decision.

Software innovations come in all shapes and sizes. A good example is sentiment recognition through Machine Learning to investigate the motivation of the writer.

Michiel van den Bosch, consultant at De Breed & Partners

Common mistakes with a software application

You must submit your WBSO application to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. It is very important that you are concrete and technical. The biggest mistake when applying for WBSO for software is that problems are described functionally.

Let’s take an online store as an example. When one person proceeds to check out on your online store, there is no problem. The website does not lose speed. When a hundred people try to pay, things slow down considerably.. But when 100,000 people want to settle a transaction at the same time, the application no longer works properly. This is an example of a functional problem. It is possible that the cause of this problem could be a technical issue, but to know that, you have to go deeper into the matter. If your problem cannot be solved with standard techniques, the software project is worthy of WBSO. You will then develop components yourself to solve the problem.

Apply for WBSO through an intermediary

You can apply for WBSO yourself at the eLoket of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, but we can also take this off your hands. We offer the following advantages:

No cure, no pay on the benefit actually enjoyed
35+ years of experience in financing innovation
1,500 to 2,000 WBSO applications per year
ICT projects are our speciality

Software and innovation

At De Breed & Partners we share a passion for software and innovation. That is why we like to think together alongside entrepreneurs about innovation issues that concern, for example, Blockchain, Big Data, Cybersecurity, IoT or Machine Learning. In this way, we make software innovation as sustainable as possible.

Would you like to know more about our services? Or are you curious to find out more about other forms of financing for software projects? Please feel free to contact us on +31(0)76 – 565 7321. We are happy to advise you!