Apply for WBSO

Each application you submit automatically runs up to and including 31 December. In your first application for the calendar year, you must provide a realistic estimate of the time needed (and of any costs and expenditures) up to and including 31 December.

Only submit a new application:

• for new R&D projects;
• for a change in the content of an R&D project;
• if you will incur costs and expenditures other than those you have applied for;
• if you will incur more hours, costs and expenditures than you have applied for in total. For a project that you want to supplement with a follow-up application, the minimum number of hours is 1 hour. Please mention the changes in the application form under 'Update project'.

Application periods may also overlap. For example, if you have applied for January as the starting month, you may additionally submit a new application for February or March as the starting month, for instance. This will enable you to respond flexibly to developments within your company.

Online application portal

To apply for the WBSO, you need eHerkenning. You should log in to the application portal with at least level 3 eHerkenning (eH3) and a level 3 authorisation for Netherlands Enterprise Agency services (Machtiging RVO diensten op niveau 3).

Are you an intermediary or an agent? In addition to eH3, you also need a supply chain authorisation for each company to log in to the application portal. Apply for eH3 or supply chain authorisation in time. Please take into account that it may take several weeks before your credentials are provided.

How to apply?

• Submit your application (in Dutch)
• Under 'Direct regelen in aanvraagportaal', select 'Aanvragen en beheren'.
• Log in with eH3 with an authorisation for 'Netherlands Enterprise Agency services at level 3 or 'All services at level 3' (Machtiging RVO diensten op niveau 3 of Alle diensten op niveau 3).
• Approved projects from previously submitted applications are available for you. You can easily select and copy them into your new application under step 5 on the form.

Submitting a WBSO application for another company? The following applies in addition to the above:

• Log in per company with eH3 and a supply chain authorisation for 'Netherlands Enterprise Agency services at level 3' or 'All services at level 3' (Machtiging RVO diensten op niveau 3 of Alle diensten op niveau 3). If the supply chain authorisation has been used correctly, you will see 'Handelend namens [Company name]'.
• If you cannot log in on behalf of another company, log in to the website of your eHerkenning supplier and check the level of your eHerkenning. You should also check for which companies and for which period you have an authorisation.
• Apply for the supply chain authorisation in time. Take into account a processing time of several weeks.

Free-form application

If you are running out of time, you can submit a free-form application in the application portal. You will then only need to fill in some basic details. You will receive an email notification from us asking you to complete your application in the application portal once within a certain period of time.

Withdrawing an application

• If you want to withdraw a free-form application yourself, log in to the application portal, open the application and select 'Taken' for 'Aanvraag intrekken' in the top right corner of your screen.
• If you want to withdraw a complete application for another company, log in with supply chain authorisation in the application portal, open the application and select 'Taken' for 'Aanvraag intrekken' in the top right corner of your screen.
• If you want to submit a free-form application for another company, log in to the application portal without supply chain authorisation, open the application and select 'Taken' for 'Aanvraag intrekken' in the top right corner of your screen.

Digital communication

All communication about your application will be digital after submission.

We will send you a notification email when a message (for example application is complete or extra information is necessary) is available for you in the portal. The address we use for this is noreply@rvo.nl. Make sure that these noreply emails do not end up in your spam folder. Answer questions as quickly as possible in line with the step-by-step plan in the notification email.

Keep an eye on your mailbox. We advise you to give several employees access to the email address that you provided with the application.

WBSO conditions

Make sure you have read and met all the WBSO conditions.

After your application

An adviser from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency will assess your application. If the information in your application requires further clarification, the adviser may ask you additional questions.

If the adviser approves (or partially approves) your application, you will receive an R&D declaration showing your tax credit benefit. If your activities or the project do not meet the assessment criteria, the adviser will reject your application.

We strive to inform you of our decision as quickly as possible and within the specified processing period. For self-employed persons, this is within 3 months. For all other companies, this 3 months counts from the start of the application period (if you opt for a fixed sum). If you have opted for actual costs and expenditures this period is 8 weeks longer. If we have asked you a question, we will add the waiting time for your answer to the processing time.

Confidentiality

We handle the information you provide about your R&D-projects confidentially (article 67 of the General Tax Act). We use the supplied information to assess your application. We do not share information about the content of your R&D-projects with third parties.