WBSO application submitted, now what in 3 steps?

After the last meeting with your colleagues about the start of your innovation project, the time has come: you have submitted the WBSO application! But how do you proceed? When can you offset the subsidy and from when can you get started? In this blog we explain the most important steps that follow after the WBSO application has been submitted.

Step 1: The application is assessed by the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO).

You have submitted your WBSO application. Once the RFO has received your WBSO application via you or your intermediary, the RFO will assess whether the application can be approved on the basis of the assessment criteria. It is possible that your application is still unclear or incomplete. In that case, the RFO will contact you to ask additional questions. If you work with an intermediary, the RFO will contact your intermediary. The approval of your application is done as quickly as possible, but our experience is that the large number of applications the RFO has to process can cause the approval time to vary enormously.

In doing so, the RFO always strives to have every file completed within 3 months from the start of the application period. Is the application rejected? Then the RFO will inform you of this, giving you the opportunity to submit an objection. Once your application has been approved, you will receive an R&D statement (link to article R&D statement). This will describe how much your tax benefit from the WBSO subsidy will be and how you should set this off.

Note that the work does not have to wait for approval from the RFO, you can start the work on the date you indicate when you submit the WBSO application.

Step 2: Offsetting the tax benefit and keeping records.

After your application has been approved and the S&O declaration has been received, you can start off by offsetting the tax benefits. You can read exactly how to do this in the WBSO manual from the RVO or in our blog on offsetting WBSO tax benefits. It is also important that your R&D administration is in order from now on. In it you account for the hours worked and costs and expenses incurred.

For a comprehensive step-by-step plan for keeping your time records, you can find more information in our blog. Keeping proper records is not only for your own overview, it may in fact be that the RVO performs a WBSO audit. In this audit they check the work performed based on the administration or they come to check to what extent the development is carried out as described. Do you have any further questions about offsetting the tax benefit or about keeping the records? Please contact us: we are happy to think along with you.

Step 3: Reporting the realization.

In the first quarter of the following year, it is time to report to the RFO the extent of deviation from the requested subsidized hours. The RFO calls this reporting the realization. It comes down to reporting the hours realized last year no later than March 31. Your intermediary can also help you with this, where it can be useful to check together whether your hour registration is correct.

You can also follow the step-by-step plan of the RFO. After you have reported the realization, the RFO will look at the difference between the estimated hours and the realized hours: if you have spent more hours than expected, you will not receive extra compensation for this. However, if you have realized too few hours, the RFO will reclaim the tax benefit of these hours.

Hopefully this blog will give you insight into the post-application process and allow you to start your innovation project well-informed. We are always willing to help you where needed.