WBSO (R&D Wage-Tax Credit)

WBSO R&D Wage-Tax Credit

Funds Dutch companies with wage support through WBSO, reducing personnel costs for approved science and innovation activity.

The WBSO (Wet Bevordering Speur- en Ontwikkelingswerk) is the Dutch R&D wage-tax credit administered by RVO (Netherlands Enterprise Agency) on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK). It reduces the payroll-tax and national-insurance liability that employers and self-employed researchers owe on wages spent on qualifying R&D activities, making it one of the most broadly used innovation incentives in the Netherlands. The programme accepts applications on a continuous basis throughout the year, with applicants filing in advance of the period in which they intend to perform the R&D work.

Eligible applicants include companies of any size, knowledge institutions, and self-employed persons conducting technical-scientific research or the development of technically new products, production processes, or software in the Netherlands. The credit applies against documented R&D wage costs and, for self-employed applicants, against a fixed-rate deduction. Credit rates and the annual wage-cost ceiling are set each fiscal year by EZK and published by RVO; the 2026 budget was reported growing relative to prior years. There is no sector restriction — any technically novel R&D activity conducted in the Netherlands is in scope, spanning manufacturing, software, medtech, agritech, and deep-tech hardware.

Applications are submitted in Dutch through the RVO e-Loket portal; no English-language submission route has been confirmed. Because the WBSO is a tax-reduction mechanism rather than a cash grant, it is most valuable to organisations with active payroll-tax liability. Applicants must keep a detailed R&D hours register (uren-administratie) to substantiate claims during RVO audits. Policy ownership rests with EZK; all operational details including current credit rates and eligible cost categories are maintained by RVO.