For practices
Hiring a self-employed orthodontist.
Hiring a self-employed orthodontist is allowed, as long as the work is genuinely independent.
- Speed
- Often arranged quicklyfrom a network we know personally
- First
- We look at the factsdoes self-employment fit how the work actually looks?
- If it doesn’t fit
- Permanent recruitmentan orthodontist on your own payroll
Why this comes up so often.
Hiring a self-employed orthodontist is quick and flexible, and for many practices the most normal thing in the world. But since the Dutch tax authority started looking more closely at false self-employment, the question has become sharper: is it actually still allowed in your situation?
In orthodontics everything runs in courses of treatment that last months: if the clinician drops out, patients are left waiting with braces that need checking. That is different from a gap in the schedule — it affects treatments already under way, and putting them off is rarely an option.
Honestly: we don’t judge on behalf of the Dutch tax authority, and we don’t give tax advice. What we do is choose the arrangement that fits how the work actually looks in the practice — and warn you when a construction doesn’t strike us as sustainable. Better that conversation up front than a back tax bill afterwards.
How it works.
We look at the actual situation
Does someone run their own schedule, set their own rate, have the right to send a substitute, work for more than one client? That determines whether it holds up as genuinely independent work.
Self-employment fits? Then we find the right contractor
From a network we know personally — not from a database of keywords.
Self-employment doesn’t fit? Then we say so
And then a permanent position with you is the alternative: we recruit someone who joins your payroll.
Also possible.
Orthodontist, other arrangement
Frequently asked questions.
Can I still use a self-employed contractor?
As long as it is genuine self-employment, yes. But someone who is a fixed part of your rota, works under your direction and has no other clients doesn’t look self-employed — whatever the agreement is called.
What does the Dutch tax authority look at?
Mainly at the facts: is there a relationship of authority, does the work have to be done personally, and is there genuine entrepreneurial risk? The paperwork weighs less heavily than how things actually run in the practice day to day.
And if self-employment isn’t possible?
Then permanent recruitment is the route: we find an orthodontist who joins your payroll. That way the arrangement isn’t up for debate.
Do you arrange the agreement?
We make sure the arrangements are clearly on paper before anyone starts: days, rate, period and substitution. For tax or legal assessment we refer you to your own adviser — that is where it belongs.
