BY PETER KLAREN · REVIEWED 19 SEPTEMBER 2026
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WBSO requirements quick scan
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The scan adapts the follow-up questions to your type of business and project. This is an initial indication, not a formal RVO decision.
Do you or your own employees carry out the R&D activities yourselves? Yes No
Who are you applying for WBSO for? For my own employees For myself as a self-employed professional
Do you pay Dutch payroll tax for these employees? Yes No
Do you expect to realise at least 500 R&D hours in this calendar year? Yes No
Do you meet the tax hour criterion of 1,225 business hours? Yes No
What type of project is involved? Physical product Production process Software Technical-scientific research None of these
Is the technical solution new to your company? Yes No
Are there concrete technical or programming-technical bottlenecks? Yes No
Is it uncertain in advance how you can solve these technically? Yes No
Do you develop and test the technical solution yourself? Yes No
Are you investigating a technical phenomenon for which no explanation is yet available? Yes No
Does the research go beyond merely measuring, testing, observing or describing? Yes No
Does the research produce new technical knowledge? Yes No
Do the R&D activities take place within an EU Member State? Yes No
Are the activities still to take place? Yes No
Answer the visible questions for an indication.
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Who is WBSO intended for?
WBSO is intended for Dutch businesses that organise and carry out their own R&D. This can be done by employees for whom the company pays Dutch payroll tax, or by a self-employed professional who personally works sufficient R&D hours.
- Employers: qualifying work is carried out by their own employees.
- Self-employed professionals: at least 500 R&D hours per calendar year and, for application of the S&O deduction, the tax hour criterion of 1,225 hours.
- Projects: development projects or technical-scientific research.
- Location: the R&D activities take place within the European Union.
Fully outsourced development work does not qualify as your own R&D. In a collaboration, each company must apply for its own activities.
The 8 most important WBSO requirements
These requirements determine whether activities can fall within the scheme substantively and formally. A positive answer to one criterion is not enough; the requirements operate together.
1. You carry out the R&D yourself
As a self-employed professional, you carry out the R&D yourself, or your own employees do so. External parties may contribute, but their activities do not become your own qualifying R&D hours.
2. The project falls within an eligible project type
RVO recognises two main types: development projects for technically new physical products, production processes or software, and technical-scientific research that seeks to explain a technical phenomenon.
3. The development is technically new to you
The result does not need to be new to the world. RVO looks at the knowledge and technical capabilities within your company. Merely building something you have not made before is, however, insufficient.
4. There are concrete technical bottlenecks
A commercial wish or functional requirement is not a technical bottleneck. You must explain which technical limit you encounter and why known techniques do not readily solve it.
5. The solution is not known in advance
If it is already clear which standard technique, component or method you will use, there is generally no R&D. There must be technical risk or uncertainty.
6. You work systematically towards the solution
The approach follows a technical development process: bottleneck → hypothesis or solution approach → development → test → evaluation → next iteration.
7. You apply for the activities in advance
WBSO applies only to future R&D activities. Keep this requirement concise here and see applying for WBSO for the process.
8. The activities take place within the EU
Work in another EU Member State can also qualify under certain conditions. For employees, this includes the condition that the Dutch employer pays Dutch payroll tax for them.
When is something technically new?
“New to your company” means that the technical solution does not follow from the knowledge and technical capabilities already available within your organisation. A new function, new design or new customer product is not automatically technically new.
Functional wish
“We want to make our software faster.”
Concrete technical bottleneck
“With datasets above the designed scale, the current indexing method exceeds the maximum processing time because every update causes several full index operations. Within the available memory and latency limits, no workable solution has been found using known methods.”
The second formulation makes the technical cause, limit and uncertainty visible. More detail: technical novelty for WBSO.
Additional WBSO requirements for software
- Technically new software is developed and recorded in a formal programming language.
- Concrete programming-technical bottlenecks exist.
- The company resolves these bottlenecks itself.
- The development is iterative and demonstrates a new information-technological operating principle.
- Merely building new functionality using available or obtainable techniques is insufficient.
Requirements for technical-scientific research
For technical-scientific research (TWO), developing a product is not the primary objective; the objective is to explain a technical phenomenon. The explanation must not be available from generally accessible knowledge or knowledge already present within the company.
- The research is technical in nature.
- The objective is to explain, not merely observe, measure, inventory or describe.
- There is a genuine risk that the explanation will not be found.
- The research design is known in advance, systematic and non-routine.
- The research produces new technical knowledge.
Technical-scientific research and WBSO →
WBSO requirements for self-employed professionals
Self-employed professionals may qualify for the fixed S&O deduction when they personally carry out qualifying R&D and realise at least 500 R&D hours in the calendar year. For application of the S&O deduction, the tax hour criterion of 1,225 business hours also applies.
The 500-hour threshold also applies if you first apply later in the calendar year. You do not need to include all 500 hours in one application; hours from several applications are added together.
For timing and submission, continue to applying for WBSO.
Which activities do not qualify for WBSO?
Technical or innovative work is not automatically R&D. The activities below often fall outside WBSO or mark the end of the development process.
| Often not WBSO | Why |
|---|---|
| Application of existing technology | No technical novelty. |
| Routine engineering | The technical operating principle is known. |
| Standard software implementation | No programming-technical bottleneck. |
| Functional design | Functionality is not the same as technical development. |
| Market and user research | No technical R&D. |
| Administrative or organisational work | Excluded support activities. |
| Education and training | Not performance of R&D. |
| Making a product production-ready | The technical development process has ended. |
| Activities outside the EU | Geographically excluded. |
The precise assessment remains project-dependent. Source: RVO WBSO Guide 2026.
Examples: WBSO or not?
The decisive factors are not the innovative objective, but technical novelty, bottlenecks, uncertainty and in-house solution work.
| Situation | Potentially WBSO? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Building a new machine using existing components according to known construction principles | Usually not | Routine engineering. |
| Developing a proprietary construction because the required positioning accuracy proves technically unattainable | Possible | Concrete technical bottleneck. |
| Connecting Shopify to an existing ERP through an available API | Usually not | Application of existing technology. |
| Developing a proprietary real-time synchronisation algorithm because known methods do not meet required latency | Possible | Programming-technical problem and uncertainty. |
| Training a machine-learning model with existing frameworks | Not automatically | Applying existing technology is insufficient. |
| Developing a proprietary programming-technical mechanism around AI processing | Possible | May constitute technical software development. |
Obligations after WBSO has been granted
Administration is not a substantive eligibility requirement for the project itself, but it is an obligation once an S&O-verklaring has been issued. During the year you maintain:
- R&D hours registration per employee and project.
- Project records showing progress, technical choices, tests and results.
- Records of costs and expenditures if you chose actual costs and expenditures.
- Realisation of hours and any costs/expenditures, which you report to RVO after the year ends.
Overview: all WBSO administration requirements →
Frequently asked questions about WBSO requirements
What are the main WBSO requirements?
You carry out your own R&D within the EU. The project is a development project or technical-scientific research. For development, technical novelty, concrete bottlenecks, uncertainty and in-house solution work are essential. You apply for the activities in advance.
Must my innovation be new to the world?
No. RVO assesses technical novelty from the applicant's knowledge and technical capabilities. Merely making something new to your company without a technical development problem is, however, insufficient.
Must my project already have started?
No. WBSO is applied for in advance for future R&D activities. For an ongoing project, future project phases may still qualify.
Can outsourced development work fall under my WBSO?
Not as your own R&D activities. You or your own employees must organise and carry out the qualifying R&D yourselves.
Must the project be carried out in the Netherlands?
Not exclusively in the Netherlands, but the R&D activities must take place within the EU. Additional conditions apply to employees outside the Netherlands.
Is AI development automatically WBSO?
No. Applying or training existing AI technology does not in itself make a project WBSO. Proprietary programming-technical development with concrete bottlenecks may qualify.
PK
Substantively reviewed by Peter Klaren
WBSO specialist · Last review: 19 September 2026 · Primary source: RVO WBSO Guide 2026
Does your project meet the WBSO requirements?
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SOURCES AND SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW
RVO — WBSO Guide 2026
Reviewed by Peter Klaren, WBSO specialist since 2004. Last substantively updated: 21 September 2026.