Apply for assistance for self-employed persons

You have your own business. You are not entitled to regular Social assistance benefit because you are an entrepreneur. Is your income temporarily lower than the social assistance standard? If so, you can apply to the municipality for social assistance for self-employed persons. This is called a Bbz benefit.

There are two different types of benefits available:

• You receive or borrow working capital.
• You will receive or borrow a supplement to your income up to the social assistance standard.

The Self-Employed Assistance Scheme (Bbz) also offers options for self-employed individuals who have to close their business if it is no longer viable.

Established entrepreneurs

An entrepreneur may temporarily encounter financial difficulties for various reasons. The Bbz offers a number of options for established entrepreneurs:

• An interest-bearing loan that you must repay in ten years.
• A benefit for a maximum period of twelve months. This benefit supplements your own income.
• One-time working capital. You can also receive this if you have sufficient income to live on but no reserve capacity for necessary investments.

Start-up entrepreneurs

The Bbz also offers opportunities to people who want to start a business while receiving unemployment benefits (WW benefits) or Social assistance benefit Participation Act benefits). The municipality also takes your partner's income into account. All income excluding WW benefits may not exceed the social assistance level.
The options are:

• An interest-bearing loan.
• A benefit during the start-up phase of the business (maximum 36 months).

The municipality determines whether you will receive social assistance. The municipality also determines whether you will have to repay the money.

The main Requirements applying for assistance for self-employed persons are:

• You are between 18 years of age and the state pension age.
• Your income is below the social assistance standard.
• You cannot obtain a loan from a bank or other lenders.
• You meet the Tax and Customs Administration's hour criterion.
• Your company can generate sufficient income again after the period of assistance.
• You are registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

The municipality will make a decision within 13 weeks of receiving your application. If this is not possible, the municipality may extend this period once.

Do you disagree with the municipality's decision? Then you can lodge an objection. This allows you to let the municipality know why you disagree with the decision. You must do this within six weeks. The municipality will then review your application and make a new decision.

If you still disagree with the municipality's decision, you can ask the court to review whether the municipality made the right decision. This is called 'appealing'.

For more information, see: Submitting an objection.

Information about assistance for self-employed persons from Rijksoverheid

Information about assistance for self-employed persons from the Chamber of Commerce

Check whether you are eligible for self-employed assistance