No more FOR, what can you do?

What is the fiscal retirement reserve (FOR)?

The fiscal retirement reserve FOR applied to entrepreneurs who have an eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship), vof (general partnership), maatschap (professional partnership), or cv (limited partnership). Around a third of all entrepreneurs in these categories made use of the FOR. 

Even though it was called a retirement reserve, the FOR was not a pension. If you save for your pension, you set money aside for after your retirement. The FOR was a tax deferral for part of your company profit. A deduction on paper that reduced your compaany's profit. You could set aside this untaxed part of your profit in a blocked bank account or purchase an annuity insurance. But this was not mandatory. Many entrepreneurs ended up using the money in their business. 

Since 1 January 2023, you can no longer set aside money using the FOR. If you had already accrued a retirement reserve, you will see the amount on your tax return.  

What can you do with your existing FOR

Have you accrued FOR in previous years? If so, you can still settle it according to the old rules. The accrued amount may remain in place. You do not yet have a pension scheme. You can arrange a pension by, for example, purchasing an annuity or starting a bank savings scheme. Your FOR will decrease by the same amount as your contribution to the annuity or bank savings scheme.

For tax purposes, you add the amount released from the FOR to your profit. The contributions for the annuity or bank savings are deductible. As a result, you do not pay any tax on balance at the time of conversion. In the future, income tax will be withheld on the payments from your annuity or bank savings.

You can convert the FOR into an annuity or bank savings account until the moment you cease trading with your business. To do so, you will need the money (cash). Do you still have a FOR amount when you cease trading with your business? Then you must add the amount to your profit for that year. You will then have to pay tax on this amount.

Types of pension products

As a business owner, you can build up a pension to complement your state pension (AOW) in several ways. Or, if you are already enrolled in a compulsory pension fund, extra pension. You can save money yourself, invest, open a bank savings account, or buy a pension product from an insurer or other supplier.

Get help from an independent financial adviser (in Dutch) or pension adviser (in Dutch), if you are not sure what to do. Or compare products and savings plans to find out what the return on your investment will be. Find out more about building up a pension as an entrepreneur.

Want to know more?

Do you want to know how much pension you have accrued already? You can check this on Mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl. After logging in with DigiD, you will see exactly what you have accumulated so far and what you can achieve at retirement age.