Allowances and the hours criterion
Many freelancers leave money on the table
Not out of unwillingness, but because they do not know a scheme exists. Katsjing looks along with your own figures and hours and explains the allowances that apply to your situation: self-employed allowance, starters allowance, SME profit exemption, investment allowance, co-working allowance and cessation allowance.
The 1,225-hour criterion sits on top of that, with a forecast based on your own pace since your first entry. So you know in June whether you are going to make it, instead of discovering in January that you just missed it.
What you can do with it
- Where you stand on the hours criterion, with an estimate of where you will end up this year.
- Explained in plain language, with the amounts and percentages for the year you picked.
- Calculated with your own profit: what the allowances together take off your taxable profit.
- Only your own hours count; hours of a colleague or your bookkeeper are listed separately.
Katsjing gives you information and signals based on your own books. It is not tax advice: in unusual situations your bookkeeper or adviser remains the one who decides.
Six allowances, with that year's amounts
The advice overview covers the self-employed allowance, the starters allowance, the SME profit exemption, the investment allowance, the co-working allowance and the cessation allowance. The amounts are those of the year you choose, and they have been checked up to and including the current year. For a year whose amounts have not been fixed yet, Katsjing shows no amount rather than a guess.
Up to your taxable profit, no further
Using your own profit, Katsjing calculates what the allowances together take off your taxable profit, but it does not calculate income tax: too many things come into play that aren't in your books, such as your partner, your mortgage or other income. Want an estimate of what you keep net? Use the gross-to-net calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- My partner works in the business with me. Does that count?
- The advice overview mentions the co-working allowance, which applies if your partner works along unpaid for at least 525 hours a year. Whether you get it depends on their hours.
- Why is the self-employed allowance so low?
- The government is phasing it out step by step: from € 5,030 in 2023 to € 1,200 in 2026 and € 900 in 2027. Katsjing shows the amount for the year you choose.
Useful alongside this
Gross-to-net calculatorIncluded in every paid plan
There is no basic version with half a feature list: every feature above is included in both paid plans. What differs is how much of it you use: the number of sales invoices per month, users, trade names and automatically read receipts. ZZP is for sole traders; Onderneming has room everywhere and lets you switch off the Katsjing mention on your invoices. You can also start for free, with a monthly limit on the number of invoices.
See the plans