UWV denies granting of NOW allowance

The calculation of the NOW allowance under the first stage of the NOW (Employment Bridging Emergency Fund) scheme (the NOW‑1 subscheme) had to be based on the wage for the month of January 2020, or on that for November 2019 where no wage specifics for January 2020 were (yet) available at the time. The data as per the employer’s payroll tax return were subsequently vetted against the payroll tax return (including supplementary details if any) filed no later than by the 15th of March 2020, with the allowance being refused altogether where the benefit entitlement data base for the months of January 2020 and November 2019 was shown to be devoid of wage-related information.

UWV, the Employee Insurance Agency, denied the granting of a NOW‑1 prepayment to an employer who had filed a nil tax return in respect of the month of January 2020. The final calculation – based on the wage bill for the months of March, April and May – might all the same have entitled the employer to the allowance. The employer appealed UWV’s decision to deny making the NOW‑1 prepayment. Arguing that the employer’s filing of a nil tax return had left UWV no choice but to fix the prepayment – likewise – at nil, the District Court dismissed the employer’s appeal. According to NOW‑1 guidelines the sole pretext for looking into the wage-related data for November 2019 would have been the absence at UWV level as at the 15th of March 2020, this being the reference date, of wage-related information concerning the month of January 2020.

Dutch version: Weigering toekenning NOW