Is the business community paying for the political desire to improve the purchasing power of Dutch people? Chairman of MKB-Nederland Jacco Vonhof is confident, he says in Good Morning Netherlands on NPO 1. “We think that social security is also very important for SME entrepreneurs. We are slowly reaching the limits there.”
Today, the government has the opportunity to point out the parties in the House of Representatives of the financial consequences of their proposals during the General Political Considerations. There are voices in Parliament calling for the bill to be passed on to companies. Vonhof foresees major problems. As far as he is concerned, the limit has been reached. “We think that social security is also very important for SME entrepreneurs.”
Vonhof points out “that an entrepreneur who earns an amount of 150,000 euros pays up to 150,000 euros in much more tax than someone who does so as an employee. That is a strange phenomenon.” Entrepreneurs bear much more risk and, according to him, that should be rewarded. After all, employers try to advance their company and take care of their employees. “The whole risk profile is high and yet you already pay more tax.”
Missed this episode of Goedemorgen Nederland? You can watch it here on NPO Start.
Better to cut costs than increase taxes
MKB-Nederland itself advocates cutbacks instead of increasing taxes for entrepreneurs. “In the Netherlands, let us focus primarily on earning fairly and then on distributing fairly. And let’s make sure that people who want to work and can work and do so with a lot of passion will have more money if they do more.”
One of the possible cuts could also come from simplifying legislation and regulations and the social system, says Vonhof. “We are now at a point where we see that the economy is slowing down and we see that entrepreneurs are having a hard time. Looking back, everyone says: yes, but things have been going well for years. No, it’s about looking ahead and we see that things are going wrong.”
Corona debts must be paid
Last week it was announced that the number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands has increased significantly. One of the causes is the repayment of corona support. Vonhof says that many companies currently need part of their profitability to pay off corona debts. “That’s where things will get tight,” he says.
Moreover, many entrepreneurs are throwing in the towel, resulting in fewer people being able to work as employees. Vonhof says that he never sees these numbers reflected in the figures. “Many entrepreneurs start on their own, but there are fewer and fewer companies that employ people. As far as I am concerned, this number will be far too large for the economy of the future.”
Elections
The chairman of MKB-Nederland hopes that the incoming MPs will still adhere to the many plans they are now presenting in the party programs after the elections. “In general, they understand it very well at the beginning of such an election,” says Vonhof. “The programs are full of great plans for SMEs, but I am not yet sure about what you then see and what measures they propose. So I hope that many MPs will come and say: what we profess with our mouths, we must also do in actions.”
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By: Matthijs Meulblok