1. You carry out the R&D work yourself
As a self-employed professional you carry out the R&D yourself, or your own employees do. External parties can contribute, but their activities do not become your own qualifying R&D hours.
UPDATED FOR WBSO 2026 · 2027 CHANGES ANNOUNCED
What are the WBSO requirements?
To qualify for WBSO, you must carry out technical research and development (R&D) yourself. In a development project, there must be a technically new product, production process or software, with concrete technical bottlenecks whose solution is not established in advance. Technical scientific research can also qualify. Among other things, the activities must be applied for in advance and carried out within the EU.
FREE INDICATION
WBSO requirements quick scan
The scan adapts the follow-up questions to your type of company and project. This is a first indication, not a formal assessment by RVO.
Do you or your own employees carry out the R&D activities yourselves?
For whom are you applying for WBSO?
Do you withhold Dutch payroll tax for these employees?
Do you expect to realise at least 500 R&D hours this calendar year?
Do you meet the fiscal hours criterion of 1,225 business hours?
Which project type is it about?
Is the technical solution new for your company?
Are there concrete technical or programming bottlenecks?
Is it uncertain in advance how you can solve this technically?
Do you develop and test the technical solution yourself?
Are you researching a technical phenomenon for which no explanation is available yet?
Does the research go beyond merely measuring, testing, observing or describing?
Does the research yield new technical knowledge?
Do the R&D activities take place within an EU member state?
Do the activities still have to take place?
Answer the visible questions for an indication.
The scan automatically adapts the follow-up questions.
Who is WBSO intended for?
WBSO is intended for Dutch companies that organise and carry out their own R&D. That can be through employees for whom the company withholds Dutch payroll tax, or through a self-employed professional who realises sufficient R&D hours — see WBSO for self-employed professionals.
- Employers: the qualifying work is carried out by own employees.
- Self-employed: at least 500 R&D hours per calendar year and, for offsetting the R&D deduction, the fiscal hours 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 collaborations, each company must apply for its own activities.
The 8 most important WBSO requirements
These conditions determine whether activities can fall within the scheme substantively and formally. A positive answer to one criterion is not enough; the conditions work together.
2. The project falls under an allowed project type
RVO recognises two main types: development projects for technically new physical products, production processes or software, and technical scientific research that tries to explain a technical phenomenon.
3. The development is technically new for you
The result does not have to be new to the world. RVO looks at the knowledge and technical skills within your company. However, merely building something you have not made before is not sufficient.
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 easily solve it.
5. The solution is not established in advance
If it is already clear which standard technique, component or method you apply, there is usually no R&D. There must be technical risk or uncertainty.
6. You work systematically on the solution
The approach follows a technical development process: bottleneck → hypothesis or solution direction → development → test → evaluation → next iteration.
7. You apply for the activities in advance
WBSO applies exclusively to future R&D activities. Keep this condition compact here and see for the process WBSO application.
8. The activities take place within the EU
Work in another EU member state can also count under conditions. For employees, it includes the requirement that the Dutch employer withholds Dutch payroll tax for them.
When is something technically new?
“New for your company” means that the technical solution does not follow from the knowledge and skills 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
“For 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 usable solution has been found with known methods.”
The second formulation makes the technical cause, limit and uncertainty visible. Further depth: technical novelty for WBSO.
Extra WBSO requirements for software
- Technically new software is developed and recorded in a formal programming language.
- There are concrete programming bottlenecks.
- The company solves these bottlenecks itself.
- The process is iterative in nature and demonstrates a new information-technology operating principle.
- Merely building new functionality with available or obtainable techniques is not sufficient.
Applying or training existing AI technology is therefore not automatically WBSO. Own programming development around AI processing can possibly qualify. View all requirements for WBSO software →
Requirements for technical scientific research
In technical scientific research, developing a product is not the primary goal; explaining a technical phenomenon is. The explanation must not be available from publicly accessible knowledge or knowledge present within the company.
- The research has a technical character.
- The goal is to explain, not merely to observe, measure, inventory or describe.
- There is a real risk that the explanation will not be found.
- The research design is known in advance, systematic and non-routine.
- The research yields new technical knowledge.
WBSO requirements for the self-employed
Self-employed professionals can qualify for the fixed R&D deduction when they carry out qualifying R&D themselves and realise at least 500 R&D hours in the calendar year. For offsetting the R&D deduction, the fiscal hours criterion of 1,225 business hours additionally applies.
The 500-hour threshold also applies when you apply for the first time later in the calendar year. You do not have to include all 500 hours in one application; hours from multiple applications count together.
For timing and submission, read more at WBSO application.
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 NO WBSO | Why |
|---|---|
| Application of existing technology | No technical novelty. |
| Regular engineering | The technical operating principle is known. |
| Standard software implementation | No programming bottleneck. |
| Functional design | Functionality is not the same as technical development. |
| Market and user research | No technical R&D. |
| Administrative or organisational activities | Excluded supporting activities. |
| Education and training | No execution of R&D. |
| Making a product production-ready | The technical development process has ended. |
| Activities outside the EU | Geographically excluded. |
The exact assessment remains project-dependent. Source: RVO-handleiding WBSO 2026.
Examples: WBSO or not?
The decisive factor is not the innovative goal, but technical novelty, bottlenecks, uncertainty and own solution work.
| Situation | Possible WBSO? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Building a new machine with existing components according to known construction principles | Usually not | Regular engineering. |
| Developing an own construction because the required positioning accuracy proves technically unachievable | Possible | Concrete technical bottleneck. |
| Connecting Shopify to an existing ERP via an available API | Usually not | Application of existing technology. |
| Developing an own real-time synchronisation algorithm because known methods do not meet the required latency | Possible | Programming problem and uncertainty. |
| Training a machine-learning model with existing frameworks | Not automatically | Applying existing technology is not sufficient. |
| Developing an own programming mechanism around AI processing | Possible | Can be technical software development. |
Obligations after WBSO has been awarded
Records are not a substantive admission condition for the project, but they are an obligation after an R&D declaration has been issued. You keep track during the year of:
- R&D hours registration per employee and project.
- Project records with progress, technical choices, tests and results.
- A costs and expenditure administration if you chose actual costs and expenditures.
- The realisation of hours and any costs/expenditures, which you report to RVO afterwards.
Frequently asked questions about WBSO requirements
What are the most important WBSO requirements?
You carry out own R&D within the EU. The project is a development project or technical scientific research. In development, technical novelty, concrete bottlenecks, uncertainty and own 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 knowledge and technical skills of the applicant. However, merely making something that is new for your company, without a technical development problem, is not sufficient.
Must my project have started already?
No. WBSO is applied for in advance for future R&D activities. In a running 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. Own programming development with concrete bottlenecks can qualify.
PK
Substantively checked by Peter Klaren
WBSO specialist · Last check: 19 September 2026 · Primary source: RVO-handleiding WBSO 2026
Does your project meet the WBSO requirements?
Doubting whether the technical novelty, bottlenecks or activities are sufficient for WBSO? Have your project assessed without obligation by Peter Klaren.
SOURCES AND SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW
Reviewed by Peter Klaren, WBSO specialist since 2004. Last substantively updated: 21 September 2026.