Childcare benefit for entrepreneurs
Childcare benefit contributes to the cost of childcare. As an entrepreneur you are also entitled to this benefit.
What are the conditions for childcare benefit?
You can apply for childcare benefit as an entrepreneur, freelancer/self-employed professional if, among other things:
- Your child lives with you.
- You have profit from business activities, or income from other activities (for instance as a freelancer or artist).
Do you have a benefit partner for the Netherlands Tax Administration (Belastingdienst, in Dutch)? Then your partner must also work, or must follow a training programme, a civic integration course or a reintegration programme to qualify for the childcare benefit.
View all conditions for the childcare benefit at the Tax Administration.
How much childcare benefit will you receive?
How much childcare benefit you receive depends on your income, the number of children, the type of childcare, the hourly rate you pay, and the number of hours of childcare. Check the current amounts for childcare benefit (in Dutch). You can do a test calculation (in Dutch) to determine the so-called means-test income (toetsingsinkomen, in Dutch).
You only receive childcare benefit for the months in which you spend hours on your business. You can apply for at most 230 hours of childcare per month.
How to apply for childcare benefit?
You apply for childcare benefit yourself to the Netherlands Tax Administration, within 3 months after your child starts going to a childcare centre.
Checking and submitting changes in childcare benefit
You should check regularly if your details for childcare benefit are still correct. Are there any changes in your life, for example income changes, changes in your working hours, or the number of hours your child spends in a childcare centre? You should change your details to make sure you do not receive too much or too little childcare benefit. You can submit these changes online to the Netherlands Tax Administration or call the Tax Information Line. You can also use the Tax Administration's Dutch-language App Toeslagen (in Dutch).
Stopping the childcare benefit
If you no longer qualify for childcare benefit, you must inform the Tax Administration within 4 weeks. You no longer qualify for childcare benefit if:
- your child no longer attends a childcare centre, or
- you have stopped working
Childcare benefits affair
Are you in (financial) trouble as a result of the childcare benefits affair? You are entitled to reparations, for which you can make use of restoration schemes. You can pass on your personal debts to Sociale Banken Nederland (Social Banks the Netherlands, SBN). They will contact your creditors for you and help them making sure the debts will be paid off.
If you are uncertain which steps you need to take, contact the Service Team Childcare Allowance for Affected Parents.