Last week, a new proposal regarding the taxation of stock options was published for online consultation. This regulation makes it easier and more attractive for companies to compensate workers in stock options, and for employees to accept them as part of their compensation package. 

This regulation can offer a solution for companies that experience liquidity problems. In addition, it is expected to make it generally more attractive and more common to pay employees in stock options. By doing so, this regulation makes the Dutch startup ecosystem more competitive with respect to other (surrounding) countries. 

Dutch Startup Association and Techleap worked hard for this to happen. However, the current proposal only concerns the moment of taxation and does not include other issues, such as the base or rate of the taxation. Although it’s a good sign that some steps are being taken towards a more competitive ecosystem, the Dutch Startup Association believes that more changes should be made. For instance, the base and rate of taxation should also be part of future discussions to further improve the Dutch startup ecosystem and its relative competitiveness.

Please make sure to fill out our online consultation, if you would like to have an opportunity to reach to the regulation or if you would like to have more information about it.