You hire an IT freelancer for a project, but how long may that actually last? Do you run a risk after three months, or after a year? And does it matter whether they work full-time or two days a week?
In this article you will learn what the Dutch DBA Act says about the nature and duration of the work. You will see whether a hard maximum duration exists, why the difference between result and effort is crucial, and how to define an IT assignment so you run no risk.
This blog is for clients: IT managers and hiring managers who want to hire a freelancer for a longer period.
Nature and duration is factor 1 of the Deliveroo ruling, one of the nine factors the Tax Authority uses to assess your working relationship. Want the full overview? Read our guide to the 9 assessment factors of the Dutch DBA Act.
What does the Dutch DBA Act say about the nature and duration of the work?
The Tax Authority looks at what kind of work the freelancer does and for how long. Long-running, continuous and effort-based tasks point toward employment. A defined assignment with a clear result points toward a genuine assignment. The type of work and the duration are weighed together.
An important distinction is between an obligation of effort and an obligation of result. If you work toward a concrete end result, that fits independence. If you mainly deliver continuous effort with no clear endpoint, like an employee, that points toward employment.
Is there a maximum assignment duration?
No, there is no statutory maximum duration. There is a often-cited indication, though: if an assignment lasts longer than three months and covers more than twenty hours a week, that can be a signal toward an employment contract. It is an indication, not a hard limit.
That means an assignment of six months or a year is not automatically wrong. It depends on the overall picture: how independently does the freelancer work, is there a clear result, and do they become embedded? A long assignment with much independence can be fine, while a short assignment that looks like employment is not.
So be careful with the "three months, twenty hours" rule of thumb. It circulates widely, but is often misunderstood as hard law. The reality is more nuanced: it is one indication within a broader assessment.
Why is result versus effort so crucial?
Because it touches the core of what distinguishes an assignment from employment. An entrepreneur is hired to deliver something: a migration, an implementation, a solved problem. An employee delivers continuous labour within a role. The more clearly you steer on result, the stronger your independence story.
An example. "We hire a cloud engineer to migrate our AWS environment to a new architecture, to deliver in Q3" is result-oriented. "We hire a cloud engineer to strengthen our cloud team" is effort-oriented and looks like a vacancy. The first is far safer.
The nature of the work counts too. If the freelancer does exactly the same as your permanent engineers, it looks like a role. If they do a specialist, defined job your own people cannot, that fits an assignment better.
How do you define an IT assignment by result?
Start with the assignment description. Describe a concrete end result with a clear scope and an end date or milestone, not a continuous role. Record what "done" means. That way you turn the hire into an assignment instead of a disguised job.
A few concrete choices help:
- Formulate a result, not a job description
- Tie the assignment to an end date or delivery moment
- Give the freelancer freedom in how and when they achieve the result
- Avoid them doing exactly the same as your permanent staff
- Record extra work and extension deliberately and in writing
The better the assignment is defined, the stronger not only your DBA Act position, but also your grip on the project. A clear result helps both you and the freelancer.
What do you do with an assignment that runs over?
Assignments often run over in practice. That is not a disaster, but stay alert: the longer and more continuous the hire, the more it starts to look like employment. An assignment you keep extending informally without new definition builds up risk.
If you extend an assignment, do it deliberately: record a new result or a new phase, with its own scope and end date. That way each extension stays an assignment and not a creeping permanent appointment. Is the collaboration structural and intensive? Then the intermediary construction is the safe route.
With the intermediary construction, I place the freelancer via Maedium and take on the Dutch DBA Act risk. The IT professional stays independent, I do not become an employer. That way you can continue a long-running collaboration without carrying the risk yourself. Read our comparison of the intermediary construction and intermediation.
Frequently asked questions about nature and duration
May an assignment last longer than a year?
Yes, it may. There is no statutory maximum duration. A long, continuous assignment does weigh more heavily toward possible employment. Keep the assignment defined by result and safeguard independence, and a longer duration is not automatically a problem.
Does full-time work weigh more heavily than part-time?
It plays a part. The often-cited indication names more than twenty hours a week as a signal. Someone working full-time and long-term for you looks more like an employee than someone doing a defined job a few days a month. But it is one factor within the whole.
What if I want to give a freelancer a one-year contract?
A "one-year contract" quickly sounds like employment. Better is an assignment agreement for a defined result or a project with a duration. The difference is not only in the word, but in the substance: steer on result, not on a continuous role.
Is extending an assignment risky?
Extending is allowed, but do it deliberately. An assignment you keep rolling over informally looks more and more like permanent employment. On extension, record a new phase or result with its own scope and end date. That way it stays an assignment.
Does the three-month rule count as a hard limit?
No. The "three months, twenty hours" is an indication, not a law. It is often wrongly seen as a hard limit. In reality it is one signal weighed together with the other eight factors into an overall picture.
Conclusion: steer on result, not on hours
There is no maximum assignment duration, but the longer and more continuous the hire, the more it looks like employment. The key is steering on a defined result instead of continuous effort. A clear assignment with an end goal keeps your independence story strong.
For whom is this most urgent? For clients who want to hire a freelancer full-time and long-term. For whom less? For those outsourcing a short, specialist job with a clear result.
Does an assignment structurally run over or become long-running? Then the intermediary construction takes the risk off your plate. Better well arranged up front than a back-tax assessment afterwards.
Unsure about the duration or setup of your assignment?
Want to look together at whether your assignment is well defined and which construction fits? Plan a no-obligation call with me. We go through your situation, with no strings attached.
Note: regulations around the Dutch DBA Act may change. For current information, consult rijksoverheid.nl or belastingdienst.nl. This article is general information, not legal advice. For complex situations, I advise consulting an employment lawyer or tax advisor.
