Business owner, yes or no?

Having worked for two cooperatives, B and C, as an administrative and tax consultant until 2008 (under a fictional employment format for payroll tax purposes), stakeholder Z together with his business partner A has since been a participant in and board member of said two cooperatives. Z has since performed his administrative services as a sole trader, collecting a monthly fee from B in the amount of € 2,500 whereas C pays him a € 400 fee for each cooperative that is incorporated. Z raises monthly fee invoices featuring value-added tax with B and C. His only income is that from the cooperatives.

The inspector of taxes based on an audit establishes that Z’s duties fail to qualify as an entrepreneurial performance and slaps a reassessment on Z for inappropriately deducted input tax and wrongly charged value-added tax.

Business owner?

Does or does not Z qualify as a business owner in value-added tax terms? The Court of Appeal for the Arnhem-Leeuwarden district thinks not: the lack of contractual association between Z and the cooperatives’ customer base has resulted in Z in his association with the cooperatives not officiating independently, in addition to which Z has not been carrying out his duties at for his own account and responsibility and has not himself been bearing the risk of his activities in a beneficial sense.

Dutch version: Wel of geen ondernemer?