As a reaction to the upcoming elections and recent news regarding the 30% ruling, Mr. Geert Jan Mantel, Chairman of DUJAT, and Mr. Nobuhiro Matsumoto, Chairman of JCC wrote the following letter to the commissioner of the NFIA, and to the mayors of Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Almere and Haarlemmermeer.
Dear ……
The Netherlands has always offered a good business environment for foreign companies. There are many reasons why foreign companies established themselves in this country and fiscal benefits are one of them.
One of the important (fiscal) benefits for expats is the 30% ruling. This arrangement enables foreign companies to send employees from the home country or abroad to the Netherlands to work here. This also makes it easy for companies to look and hire talented people from all over the world to work for them in the Netherlands. We are convinced that the relative high number of European and regional headquarters in the Netherlands, especially in the Amsterdam region, are related to this benefit.
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands (JCC) and the Dutch Japanese Trade Federation (DUJAT) focus on the business climate in the Netherlands for Japanese companies. It came to our attention that it is considered to change or terminate the 30% ruling for expats.
From our network, we are informed that the abolishment of the 30% ruling might negatively influence the presence of Japanese companies in the Netherlands. One reason for locating the European or regional headquarter in the Netherlands would be taken from the list, and from our contacts we learnt that this would reduce the chances to establish a company or expand the current entity in the Netherlands Members of our organizations made clear that, if the 30% ruling will be abolished, there is a serious possibility that the headquarters in Japan will consider to relocate activities to other locations than the Netherlands, for example closer to the market. In the end, this will mean less investments in this country but also a loss of high profile and decision making jobs.
As the Japanese companies are grateful for the investment environment created by the Dutch government, we feel that it is our obligation to inform you about our concerns. The 30% ruling is not only used to send top management from the headquarters, but also to attract talent from other regions. In our opinion, it would be a loss if these talents would not come to the Netherlands
Therefore, we would like to request you to convey our sincere concerns to people and organizations involved with this 30% ruling. We do hope that the Dutch government will keep the ruling in place, so that the Netherlands will continue to stay a country where European and regional decisions are taken, and where Japanese companies can continue to execute their tasks.
Your attention to this matter is highly appreciated.