News item | 26-01-2022 | 17:17
Employers affected by the corona crisis can apply for NOW-6 at UWV from 14 February. They will then receive an advance, as in the previous subsidy rounds, with which they can pay their employees in the months of January, February and March. This is what Minister Van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives today. The letter also states the status of the NOW-1 final subsidy determinations and the process of repayments.
Current quarter
With the NOW subsidy, employers who are affected by the corona crisis can continue to pay their employees. From February 14, they can request an advance for the current quarter (January, February and March 2022). The conditions and compensation for this subsidy period are largely the same as in the previous period. There is a small change in the calculation of the fixed surcharge, the surcharge for employer costs. This is because the system in which the wage details are passed on, the policy administration, has been changed as of 1 January. The calculation of the NOW has been adjusted accordingly to keep the compensation the same.
Determination of the final grant of previous grant periods
The NOW is an advance. Employers dealing with loss of turnover due to the corona crisis can continue to pay their salaries. The advance is based on a loss of turnover that is estimated in advance by the employers themselves. At the end of the subsidy period, the definitive subsidy is determined on the basis of the actual loss of turnover and the wage bill. This may mean that an additional subsidy is paid out, or that (part of) the advance has to be repaid.
Employers must apply for the determination of the definitive subsidy themselves and provide information for this purpose. The vast majority of the more than 139,000 employers who received the NOW-1 (March, April and May 2020) have now done so, or indicate that their accountant or bookkeeper is busy and the missing data will follow shortly. They represent more than 7.7 billion euros of the total advance amount of 7.9 billion euros.
The counter for the determinations of NOW-1 has been open for more than a year (from October 7, 2020 to October 31, 2021). The deadline has been pushed back to give employers more time.
After the October 31 deadline, there was another round of recovery until January 9. About half of the 9,438 employers, who initially failed to meet the deadline, responded after that recovery round. Ultimately, 5840 companies did not respond and did not request a determination even after the recovery round. These companies represent an advance amount of approximately 160 million euros.
UWV has made every effort to draw the attention of employers to the finding, with media campaigns, mailings and by approaching companies individually by e-mail and telephone.
The UWV cannot determine their entitlement to subsidy for those companies that have not responded. The subsidy is therefore set at zero and the advance must be repaid. Of course, the same conditions apply to the repayment of the advance, such as the option of a payment term of up to five years and a deferral of payment of one year.
Refunds
In uncertain times, employers have received an advance based on an estimate of their turnover. Because the actual loss of turnover and the wage bill will not be known until later, the definitive subsidy will in most cases differ. It is currently expected that 30 percent of employers will still receive a supplementary payment. Seventy percent must repay (part of) the subsidy. This is largely because the loss of revenue is lower than the employer had previously estimated. UWV is lenient with the repayments. Payment arrangements are without interest and can be agreed upon for up to five years. A payment break of one year is also possible.
So far, the NOW-1 recovery process is going well for most employers. More than sixty percent of employers have so far repaid the amount in one go. A payment arrangement has been agreed with 32 percent of employers. Just under seven percent of employers have not yet responded to written and telephone attempts by UWV to contact them. UWV makes every effort to prevent employers from having payment problems and tries to take the specific circumstances of the employer into account as much as possible.
The corona crisis has had consequences for everyone and for employers in particular. It is therefore important that everyone receives an appropriate and careful handling of the NOW advance that has been granted.