For the WBSO, you may claim the hours of your employees spent resolving technical bottlenecks in the realization of products, production processes, and/or software. But who qualifies as an "employee"?
That concept is perhaps a bit more difficult. A genuine employee has committed to personally performing work for the employer for a certain period of time. The employer is obliged to pay the employee wages for the work. And there is a relationship of authority between the employee and the employer.
For that 'relationship of authority' to exist, orders or instructions do not always need to be given; it also exists when you supervise the work, check the work, or handle complaints about the work.
The definition of 'employee' is more restricted for withholding tax reductions than for payroll taxes. For the purposes of withholding tax reductions, an employee is understood to mean:
• employees who are in genuine employment with you
• the following employees with a fictitious employment relationship
– cooperating children
– directors of cooperatives with employee self-management
those treated equally
You can only apply the contribution reductions for the employees listed above. However, you can offset the contribution reductions against the wage tax/social insurance contributions that you have to pay for other employees.
If you hire someone for work, they will normally invoice for their services. You do not pay them a salary, so they are not an 'employee'.
For interns, it is slightly more complicated: usually, you pay an agreed internship allowance. You may have to withhold payroll taxes on this. However, as long as you do not pay the intern at least the minimum wage, there is no 'genuine employment relationship', so you may not claim (the hours of) that person for the WBSO.