De-minimis aid

Definition

De-minimis aid is a category of state aid considered too limited to distort competition within the EU internal market, and is therefore exempt from the obligation to notify the European Commission that otherwise applies to state aid. A maximum amount applies per enterprise over a rolling period, and if a company receives aid from several de-minimis schemes, the amounts are added together and may not exceed that ceiling. Many smaller Dutch subsidy schemes fall under the de-minimis rules, including SIB and SLIM; when applying for these, you must submit a de-minimis declaration listing aid received earlier. This matters for subsidy planning: if you combine multiple de-minimis-based schemes within the same period, you need to track the cumulative aid carefully to avoid exceeding the ceiling and having to repay part of it. Not every scheme works this way, though — the WBSO and the innovation box, for instance, are tax schemes rather than subsidies and do not fall under the de-minimis rules, so they sit outside this accounting. Understanding whether a scheme is de-minimis-based is therefore an important first step before combining several subsidies, alongside checking whether a scheme instead relies on another state aid exemption such as the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER).

Frequently asked questions

What is de-minimis aid?

De-minimis aid is state aid considered too limited to affect competition in the EU, so it does not need to be notified to the European Commission, though a maximum applies per enterprise over a rolling period.

Do the WBSO and de-minimis rules apply together?

No — the WBSO and the innovation box are tax schemes, not subsidies, so they fall outside the de-minimis rules, unlike subsidies such as SIB and SLIM.

Why do you need a de-minimis declaration?

You need a de-minimis declaration to show which other de-minimis aid your enterprise has already received, so RVO or another authority can check that combined aid stays within the ceiling.