What is false self-employment, and what changes in 2025?
False self-employment means you work as a freelancer on paper, but are effectively an employee in practice: you work under authority, deliver personal labour and get paid for it. The Dutch DBA law (Deregulering Beoordeling Arbeidsrelaties) assesses whether there is such a disguised employment relationship.
The enforcement moratorium ended on 1 January 2025: since then the tax authority checks and enforces actively again. From 1 January 2026 it can also impose culpability fines (vergrijpboetes) in cases of demonstrable intent or gross negligence (10 to 100% of the assessment); negligence fines (verzuimboetes) remain postponed until 2027 and in practice the authority usually starts with a business visit. Payroll-tax and premium assessments are possible, but only for work after 1 January 2025. That risk lies mainly with the client, so clients get more critical about who they hire and want to see that you are genuinely independent.
The criteria: when are you truly independent?
Whether something is employment depends on three classic elements: personal labour, pay and a relationship of authority. Since the Deliveroo ruling (Supreme Court, 2023) the court also weighs how embedded you are in the organisation and how much you behave as an independent entrepreneur.
That last part, your 'external entrepreneurship', is exactly what you influence yourself: multiple clients, your own acquisition, your own rates and investments, entrepreneurial risk, and how you present yourself to the outside world. The stronger that picture, the smaller the chance you are seen as falsely self-employed.
Why an own website is one of the strongest signals
An own, professional website hits several of those entrepreneurship signals at once. It shows you do your own acquisition: you actively present your services to the market instead of waiting for a single client. That is concrete proof of external entrepreneurship.
An own site also radiates that you run a real business: portfolio, services, rates, contact and reviews in one place. It makes you findable to new clients, and having multiple clients is a strong signal that you are not a disguised employee.
Checklist: how to strengthen your independence
A website is one building block; combine it with the rest for a convincing whole. Work for multiple clients, set your own rate and record it in a rate card or quote, register with the Chamber of Commerce, use your own materials and tools, invoice with your own invoices and VAT, take real entrepreneurial risk, and present yourself with your own brand identity and website.
Avoid the negative signals: working full-time for a single client for a long time, under direct supervision at their office, with the client's equipment and without your own profiling to the market.
Note: a website alone is not enough
No single signal, not even a website, automatically makes you independent. The tax authority and the court look at the total picture of the working relationship. A professional website strengthens your position considerably, but only if the practice matches: if you effectively work under authority for one client, that weighs heavier than your online profile.
This article is informational and not legal or tax advice; if in doubt about your situation, consult the tax authority or a specialised advisor. Want to work on that strong entrepreneurship signal right away? We build a professional website that underlines your independence.
· Maricio Jongma, Jongma Development