“Just say a big part,” says Hans Beshefel, president of the Entrepreneurs Association Ondernemend Nederland. “It’s the thousandth time. I saw him coming. Looks like we haven’t come back.”

RTL Z polled the mood of Ondernemend Nederland, employer organizations VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland and the self-employed association VZN about the purchasing power package. The criticism turned out to be harsh.

16 billion for purchasing power

Yesterday the government plans to fix the leakage of household purchasing power. At least $16 billion is earmarked, among other things, for increasing benefits, minimum wages and lowering income tax. However, there are significant increases in corporate taxes.

For example, the government wants to increase corporate income tax. The lower income tax rate is significantly increased.

This mainly affects small and medium-sized companies, because the lower price is charged to the first 395,000 euros of profits. In the spring, it was also announced that from January the reduced price will be charged to a profit of only 200 thousand euros. So a double setback.

Small and medium businesses also suffer from a high energy bill

Very painful, for Biesheuvel, because small and medium businesses, just like households, are also suffering from a dramatically increased energy bill.

In this bakery, for example, energy costs rose from 30,000 to 370,000 euros:

Employers’ organizations VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland are also concerned about financing the purchasing power package and respond in cash, although they want to wait for final plans before making a final ruling.

“In recent years, however, companies have already faced 14 billion (!) in structural tax increases,” a spokesperson for the organizations said. “Many SMEs are also currently struggling with unprecedentedly high energy prices. 60 percent of them are unable or barely able to afford the high costs.”

Flick the ideological feathers

Corporate wage costs will also rise, because the minimum wage will rise sharply. “The accelerated increase in the statutory minimum wage from January 1 will come on top of all this for many sectors, especially if there is no compensation for this,” said VNO and MKB-Nederland.

“We were caught on all sides,” Biesheuvel grunted. “No one is fighting for us in The Hague anymore. The VVD has thrown its ideological feathers. It is no longer an organized party.”

The impact on the self-employed is not yet clear

There is also a setback for the self-employed. The self-employed deduction, a tax deduction for self-employed people, is being eliminated faster. However, it is still too early for the interest group Vereniging Zelfstandigen Nederland (VZN) to fully conquer the member.

VZN President Christel Fan explains that the rapid phasing out of the self-employed deduction is itself bad news for the self-employed, but at the same time benefits for rent and Medicare are also rising and income tax is already lower. De Vin. “What we can’t see now is how it holds together.”

more urgent

It could be that with all the other purchasing power measures, the self-employed generally benefit, although they get a lower tax credit.

But the fact that the Cabinet still has no alternative to the self-employed deduction, which is intended to enable the self-employed to build a buffer against disease or old age, is a thorn in Van de Ven’s side. In any case, this problem is now “more urgent”, concludes the head of VZN.