Self-employment in a secondary occupation

Last updated on 26.04.2026

Straight to:

• What is it and who is it for?
• Payment, limits and maximums
• Combinations with other payments and statuses?
• Taxes and social security
• Paperwork and obligations
• Insurance
• From secondary occupation to full-time self-employment
• Downloads

When you are self-employed in a secondary occupation, you can simply send an invoice to the organisation after your work, lesson or performance is done. You are responsible for sorting out the paperwork, taxes and social security, but you are free and flexible in negotiating agreements (e.g. payment) and in deciding which projects you want to take on.

You can be self-employed in a secondary occupation if you work at least 19 hours a week part-time (so-called ‘half time’) as an employee or a civil servant. If you work in education and have a permanent contract, you need to work at least 60% of a full-time teaching schedule. Often you also need permission from your employer: this is the case if you are a civil servant, for example.

Pensioners (Dutch) and students can also be self-employed in a secondary occupation. There are a few specific rules for these groups, and different social security rates.

Do you receive unemployment benefits? Contact the Social Security Office (RVA). There are certain strict systems and programmes that allow you to have a secondary occupation anyway. We advise you to gain all the information you can before you start your self-employment.

As a person who is self-employed in a secondary occupation, there is no limit on how much you earn. You can even earn more from your secondary occupation than your main occupation. However you will have to pay taxes and social security contributions on this income.

There are only certain, specific situations where there is a limit to what you can earn, for example if you combine your activity with an invalidity benefit, a pension, an unemployment benefit or certain positions in the civil service.

You can set your own price per hour, per day or per assignment. When setting your price, you need to take into account:

• the amount you want to earn
• your variable costs: how much time will it require? What travel costs will I have?
• your fixed costs: social security contributions, taxes, accountant, insurance, car etc.
• the usual rates charged by people who do similar assignments

Taxes

You will have to pay income tax on your self-employed secondary occupation. Declare your income from your secondary occupation on your annual tax return. The tax authority then adds your income from your self-employed secondary occupation to your income from your main job.

The income tax rates are progressive and go from 25% for the first tax bracket up to 50% for the highest.

As a self-employed person with a secondary activity, you can deduct your ‘professional expenses’. These are all the expenses related to your secondary occupation, such as your accountant’s fee, the costs of your phone, internet, computer, costumes, set pieces, travel costs etc. Some costs need to be spread over several years. Your accountant can help you with this. 
Your expenses are first deducted from your gross income. That amount will then be used to calculate the social security contributions and taxes you need to pay. Needless to say, you need to keep proof of all your expenses (invoices and tickets) and be able to justify them.

We advise you to make advance payments towards your tax bill. The earlier in the year you pay them, the more discount you receive. If you pay too little in advance, your tax payment will increase. 

Social security

People who are self-employed in a secondary occupation have to pay social security contributions. Your social security contributions are calculated on the net taxable income from your secondary occupation (i.e. the profit you make minus your expense).

You are already building up social security rights (to a pension, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, child benefit, holiday pay) through your main job. However, if you only work part-time in your main job, you need to realise that this means you are only building up part-time social security rights. The social security contributions that you are paying on your self-employed income in a secondary occupation will be added to building up your social security rights.
You pay a provisionary contribution every quarter, which will be recalculated every 2 to 3 years.

It is best to estimate how much money you expect to earn in the current year and use that as a basis to calculate your provisionary contributions. You can adjust and change them during the course of the year if you notice that you’re earning more or less than you estimated. If you don’t pass on an estimate to the Social Insurance Fund, they will propose a provisionary contribution based on your income 2 to 3 years earlier.

The final bill of your social security contributions is based on the income as reported by the tax authority. They will only arrive a good 2 years later.

The biggest difference between self-employment in a secondary or a main occupation is the amount of the minimum contribution that has to be payed, as well as the threshold amount above which your contributions start increasing proportionally to your income.

Quarterly contributions in 2026:

To estimate the exact amounts, it is best to make an appointment with the social insurance fund.

VAT

In theory everyone with a self-employed secondary occupation is subject to the VAT rules. That means that you are obliged to activate your business registration number with the VAT authority as a VAT number (see below, under ‘Paperwork and obligations’).

 
If you are subject to VAT, however, this means that:

• you need to charge your clients VAT, on top of your own fee, on your invoices (usually at the rate of 6% or 21%), and pay it on to the tax authority,
• you can ‘claim back’ the VAT on purchases you make for your secondary activity,
• you need to submit VAT returns and customer lists punctually to the VAT authority.

If you are subject to VAT, there is more paperwork involved. This means it is definitely a good idea to have an accountant.

Being subject to VAT can entail that you become more expensive to some of your clients. If your clients are also subject to VAT, they can in turn claim back the VAT that they are paying to you. But if they’re not subject to VAT, they bear the additional cost of your VAT, which means you are more expensive for them. 

You can find out more about VAT and the exemption scheme on the website of Cultuurloket (in Dutch) or on the website of the Federal Public Service Finance.

VAT exemption scheme:

Dancing classes offered by certified dance schools or dance companies are subject to the VAT exemption according to article 44, §2, 4° of the VAT Code and the associated interpretations. This means that no VAT has to be charged on registration fees or tuition fees, as long as the lessons aim to teach dance and as long as they meet certain conditions. The organisation should be non-commercial - e.g. a vzw (‘vereniging zonder winstoogmerk’, i.e. a non-profit organisation) or a ‘feitelijke vereniging’ (i.e. a factual association). Careful: for additional activities such as shows, workshops or selling drinks or merchandise, charging VAT might be obligatory.

In any case, it is sensible to seek advise from an accountant or the VAT administration of the Federal Public Service Finance. 

If your annual turnover is lower than 25,000 euros, you can obtain an ‘exemption’ as a ‘small business’ according to article 56bis of the VAT Code, which means you don’t need to keep VAT records. You need to apply for this exemption at the tax office. And you’ll have to state ‘Business subject to the special exemption scheme for small businesses’ on all your invoices (in Dutch: ‘Onderneming onderworpen aan de bijzondere vrijstellingsregeling kleine ondernemingen’).

Find out more about this VAT exemption scheme on the website of Cultuurloket (in Dutch).

You are your own boss for any work you do within your self-employed secondary activity. You are not subordinate to the organisation you are working for, so it is not responsible for you and you are not covered by its insurance. That means you have to sort out your own insurance.

Danspunt strongly advises you to get professional liability insurance. It covers any damage you may inadvertently cause to a client. You can also take out civil liability insurance. That covers damage you cause to a third party (not your client). 

You may also need a Guaranteed Income insurance. In case of illness or an accident, this can provide you with an extra replacement income on top of the fixed limited amount paid out by your health insurance fund.

If you are planning to switch from secondary to full-time self-employment, you may qualify for lower minimum social security contributions as a first-time self-employed person (‘primostarter’). 

Who qualifies as a ‘primostarter’?

• You have never carried out any self-employed activity or ceased a self-employed activity in the twenty quarters (five years) prior to this. 
• Your net taxable annual income as a starting self-employed person in a primary occupation does not exceed €8,972.07 (in 2026).

Lower minimum contributions as a ‘primostarter’:

• You receive this discount during the first four quarters or, if you are a full-time artist with a valid Art Work Certificate, during the first eight quarters. The minimum contribution during the first four or eight quarters is €459.82 per quarter. 
• As an added benefit, as a ‘primostarter’, you receive a discount of €118.52 on the contribution for your first active quarter. This means that during the first quarter, you pay a minimum contribution of €341.30 (instead of €459.82).

Meanwhile, you will still build up your full social security coverage, just like any full-time self-employed person.

You can read here how these lower social security contributions are applied and calculated.

Do you need more information or advice?

• Cultuurloket leaflet (only in Dutch)
• Contacteer email hidden; JavaScript is required