Council Meeting Update

DATE: 8 September 
TOPIC: IMPORTANT Council Meeting Update

Over the next 10 days, as a Council, we will continue our efforts to encourage the government to include transitional regulation for the 30Rule in the 2019 budget. However, if we are not successful, we need a plan. This was a big point of conversation with the Council, and we finalized our steps at our meeting. This leads us to 2 important announcements:

ANNOUNCEMENT 1 
As a Council, we have agreed that - if there is no transitional measures - we would like to commission a legal opinion that we can use in the months ahead, particularly for the Eerste Kamer (who will have to approve budget). We will be announcing a GoFundMe page soon so that, together, we can fund this legal opinion. We have already spoken with potential law firms, drafted an RFP for services, and are awaiting formal quotes. All of this is to ensure that IF the budget announcement does not go our way, we have a ready-to-go action plan that can help us facilitate our next steps with the Eerste Kamer.

ANNOUNCEMENT 2
In addition (yes, there’s more), in preparation for this legal opinion - and in thinking ahead about UENL’s future - we are proud to announce we are now officially the UENL Stichting. This means we have also opened a business account for all of our financial holdings and are are finalizing our formal bylaws. In the coming weeks, our web content and other public spaces will be updated to reflect this change. Transparency will continue to be at the heart of what we do. Forming a stichting required a good deal of paperwork, and certainly was not a speedy process, but we believe it is the right direction for the group.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?
Stay updated. Follow our website, Twitter, Facebook. We will announce the GoFundMe page soon (w details on the legal opinion) and will continue to update members on any possible action points. You can always email me directly as well (jessica@unitedexpats.nl). I respond to every message I receive.

Also, while I know that we are hearing rumors that there will be no transitional measures, there is still a lot of changes occurring in the budget. We will not know anything for certain until 18 September. And if things do not go our way, I hope you take some comfort in knowing Plan B will be ready to go.

On behalf of your UENL *Stichting*, thank you for your continued support in our efforts. This is about all of us

Connecterra Announces Support for UENL's Initiatives

TOPIC: Connecterra Announces Support for UENL's Initiatives

DATE: 8 AUGUST 2018

Connecterra, a Dutch start-up company and one of the leading AgTech firms worldwide, has just released a statement announcing its public support for UENL’s initiatives and concerns with the current proposal associated with the 30% tax rule.

Yasir Khokhar, CEO at Connecterra, notes: “As an international start-up company we are disappointed and deeply concerned that the proposed reduction of the 30% tax ruling for expats does not include a transition period. Without the specialized knowledge and skills of our foreign employees, Connecterra would not be able to be based in Amsterdam at all! As a startup, we’ve created new jobs for Dutch and expat workers, developed economic activity for Netherlands and have proudly advocated for Amsterdam on the global startup stage. We strongly believe that Amsterdam is a better place for startups than London, Berlin or Silicon Valley due to the entrepreneurial spirit of the Dutch and policies that the government has employed to attract innovation and talent. We respect the Dutch government’s right to change tax policies for both businesses and individuals but also believe it is only reasonable that current recipients of this tax policy are not burdened by an unexpected change. We request that the new policy is only effective moving forward and not retroactive to limit the financial consequences for our expats. The impact to the cost basis is prohibitively high for small companies with expats. This feels like changing the rules in the middle of the game and will certainly erode Amsterdam’s’ standing in the competitive space of being a place to start an innovative tech company."

Guerrilla Games Supports UENL & Expat Talent

Topic: Guerrilla Games Supports Initiatives of UENL

Date: 26 July 2018

Guerrilla Games, a Dutch video game developer founded in 2000 and based in Amsterdam, has announced it supports the initiatives of UENL.  Even more, the managing director and co-founder Herman Hulst penned an op-ed in the Parool about the opportunities of expat talent. Of note, he writes (translated) "Without the specialized knowledge and skills of our foreign employees, Guerrilla would not be able to be based in Amsterdam at all, simply because Dutch talent is not available for all roles..."

We thank Guerrilla for their support! 

(Article in English here).