Open for application

WBSO: Tax Credit for Research and Development

Last checked on:
13 October 2025

Flying cars, 3D metal printers, energy-generating dance floors and sustainable prams. Just a few examples of the innovative products developed by Dutch entrepreneurs thanks to the WBSO R&D tax credit. If your business carries out research and/or development projects you may be able to make use of the research and development tax credit 'WBSO'.

Attention: applications for 2026 can be submitted from mid-November onwards. Keep an eye on this page.

WBSO conditions

The WBSO R&D tax credit offers support for 2 different types of projects:

  1. Development project: the development of technically new physical products, physical production processes or software (or parts thereof).
  2. Technical-scientific research: explanatory research of a technical nature.

You may apply for the WBSO R&D tax credit for:

  • R&D activities carried out by you and/or your employees;
  • costs and expenditures you incur while carrying out your R&D project.

Find out if you meet the basic conditions for WBSO with our Quickscan (see below). And read more about the WBSO conditions.

WBSO tax credit benefit

Your WBSO tax credit benefit depends on the legal form of your business. If you are an individual entrepreneur, you will be granted a fixed deduction. Read more about the calculation of your tax credit benefit.

Apply for WBSO

You may apply the WBSO R&D tax credit only for future activities. This means you must always submit an application in advance. Your application should include a description of a single or multiple R&D projects. These can be new projects or projects for which you have applied for WBSO in the past.

Or read more about the WBSO application process.

WBSO administration

If you have applied for a WBSO R&D tax credit, you will be required to keep an administration. A proper administration will provide simple and clear insights into the:

  • nature, content and progress of the R&D activities carried out for each project (project administration);
  • number of R&D hours spent on the project, per person and per day (time sheet administration).

If you opt for actual costs and expenditures, you are required to keep an administration of the actual costs and expenditures (cost and expenditures administration).

Read more about keeping a WBSO administration.

WBSO statement

As an R&D withholding agent, you must always notify the Netherlands Enterprise Agency of the number of hours you have spent on R&D during the year and, if applicable, the costs and expenditures you incurred. As an individual entrepreneur, you must always report if you have spent fewer than 500 hours on R&D.

Read more about the WBSO statement.

Downloads

For more information about WBSO, please consult the Manual, Quickscan and the Your WBSO application has been granted brochures.

Commissioned by:
  • Ministry of Economic Affairs
Is this page useful?