There are still zzp who are excluded from the corona support packages. This is apparent from more than 500 reports to a hotline of the National Ombudsman. Things go wrong with the Tozo scheme and the allowance for fixed costs (TVL), but also with the scheme that was specially made to help entrepreneurs who do not qualify for other schemes (TONK).
Self-employed persons and small entrepreneurs who are not eligible for corona support are having a hard time,” says ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. “Buffers have run out, pension pots have been used, money has been borrowed from family and friends.” Van Zutphen also foresees problems if the government starts to reclaim aid. “Real customization is needed here, otherwise many entrepreneurs will not make it.”
Van Zutphen repeats his request for customization in letters to the Association of Dutch Municipalities and outgoing minister Koolmees (Social Affairs).
No support from surgery
Taxi driver Dick Bakker is one of the people who sounded the alarm. Due to working from home and the catering closure, he lost 90 percent of his customers. Thanks to 4000 euros TVL support, his company survived the first crisis quarters. But in the first quarter of 2021 Bakker suddenly received nothing at all.
To determine the level of support for that quarter, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) looked at Bakker’s turnover in the first three months of 2019. It happened to be low at the time because Bakker was unable to work for weeks due to an operation.
Bakker is not the only one who has been hit by an unfortunate reference period. Missing out on the TVL due to too little turnover in a certain period is even one of the four most important bottlenecks identified by the ombudsman.
The most important bottleneck in the Tozo scheme is the partner test. Because of this test, the aid amount is often too low for self-employed persons with high fixed costs. This group should therefore be able to claim another support fund: TONK. But self-employed workers also get into trouble there. Municipalities can determine the admission requirements themselves at the TONK. These are so strict in some of the municipalities that hardly any entrepreneurs use them.
Wrong description
The fourth bottleneck also applies to the allowance for fixed costs. Because entrepreneurs have submitted an incorrect sector description to the Chamber of Commerce (KvK), some entrepreneurs do not receive any TVL support at all.
For example, a restaurant owner received nothing because he had incorrectly described his company as a credit intermediary at the Chamber of Commerce. This sector is not entitled to support for fixed costs. Even when the description was changed, the entrepreneur initially got it wrong. Only after objection did he receive a partial aid benefit. That was not enough to make ends meet, the ombudsman writes.
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