VeLA comes up with model agreement for independent logistics consultants

The Declaration of Employment Relationship (VAR) will give way to the model agreement from 1 May 2016. The Association of Logistics Advisers (VeLA) has drawn up a sample agreement so that clients and independent logistics advisers do not face any tax surprises.

Currently, the VAR must still provide assurance that there is no employer-employee relationship when employing a self-employed person. This is going to change from 1 May 2016. The tax authorities will start working with pre-assessed agreements through the Deregulation of Assessment of Employment Relationships Act (Wet DBA).

VeLA has prepared a sector agreement that has been approved by the Tax Authorities. When principals and contractors actually work together according to this agreement, they are assured that no problems with the tax authorities will arise. There is also a general agreement, but this would not be consistent with the way logistics consultants work, according to VeLA. "Consultants generally work on the basis of a best-efforts obligation, while the general agreement assumes a predefined result," said VeLA vice-president Paul Denneman. "This meant we had to look for customised solutions together with the Tax Office." According to Denneman, there was a lot of consultation with the Tax Administration to come up with a good sector agreement.

Independent logistics consultants who are not members of VeLA can still obtain information from the association secretariat regarding the use of the sector agreement.

Editorial LogistiekProfs