The Problem With Employee Ownership in Europe
For years, European startups and scale-ups have faced a frustrating reality when it comes to employee ownership.
Updated: October 2026. This is still a bill, not law. The Wet fiscale stimulering start-ups en scale-ups (Kamerstuk 37024) is before the Dutch House of Representatives, and the Senate has to vote on it after that. If parliament adopts it as proposed, employees of companies with a start-up or scale-up decision from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) would, from 1 January 2027, pay tax on their options only when they sell the shares, and only on 65% of the gain. The government puts the effective rate at about 32% (Ministry of Finance, nader rapport). Options granted since 17 April 2025 that have not been taxed yet could also qualify (Taxlive). The bill covers options only, not shares or certificates granted directly. The Council of State was critical of it, so the details can still change. This article calls the scheme a pilot. In the bill it is an ordinary tax measure that must be evaluated within seven years and would end after eight unless that evaluation is positive.
On paper, stock options are supposed to help employees share in the success they help create. In practice, however, many employees are taxed so heavily when exercising their options that the reward often feels disappointing rather than empowering.
This has been one of the biggest structural disadvantages for European companies competing globally for talent. While tech companies in places like the United States have long used stock options as a powerful wealth-building mechanism, many European employees have experienced the exact opposite: large tax bills before they ever see meaningful liquidity.
As a result, ownership loses part of its purpose.
Instead of creating long-term alignment and financial participation, option programs can become overly complex, difficult to explain, and emotionally disconnected from the people they are meant to reward.
That is why what is happening in the Netherlands next January matters so much.
A Major Shift in Dutch Employee Participation Policy
If parliament adopts the bill, a new tax regime for employee share options would start in January 2027.
The proposal would tax only 65% of the gain on employee share options, and only when the shares are sold.
That may sound technical at first, but the impact is very real.
Imagine an employee whose stock options produce a gain of €100,000. Under the current system, that gain can be taxed at up to 49.5% as regular income.
Under the proposal, the effective tax would drop to about 32%.
That means the employee would keep roughly €17,300 more.
Not on paper.
Not someday.
But directly in their pocket.
For a single employee, that is already significant. For companies with dozens or even hundreds of employees participating in option plans, the collective impact becomes enormous.
This is not just a tax optimization exercise. It is a meaningful redistribution of value back to the people helping build companies.
Why This Matters Beyond Money
The emotional side of employee ownership is often underestimated.
When employees receive options, they are not just receiving a financial instrument. They are receiving a signal:
“You are part of this.”
But when taxation removes a large portion of that value before employees ever benefit from it, that signal weakens. Ownership starts to feel theoretical rather than tangible.
A better tax framework changes that dynamic.
It gives employees a fairer opportunity to benefit from the growth they contribute to every day. It makes ownership more understandable, more rewarding, and ultimately more credible.
That matters because strong ownership cultures are not built through legal documents alone. They are built through trust.
And trust grows when participation feels genuinely fair.
The Catch: The Discount Is Not Automatic
What makes this new program especially important is that companies cannot simply assume they will qualify.
The pilot requires organizations to actively apply for participation, and approvals will not happen automatically.
That means preparation becomes critical.
Companies will need to demonstrate that their option structures meet the necessary requirements, maintain proper compliance processes, and provide ongoing reporting.
For many businesses, this introduces a new layer of operational complexity:
- reviewing current option plans,
- auditing participation structures,
- documenting compliance,
- and preparing reporting standards before the program launches.
The companies that start preparing early will likely have a major advantage.
Those who wait until the final moment may simply miss the opportunity altogether.
Building Infrastructure Around Participation
This is exactly where Share Council comes in.
We are working together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs as the official monitoring partner for the pilot. Our role is not only to support companies operationally, but also to help create the infrastructure needed to make large-scale employee participation workable in practice.
Through Share Council, companies can:
- audit their current option packages,
- prepare applications for the tax incentive,
- monitor compliance requirements,
- and report relevant data back to the Ministry.
But perhaps more importantly, we are helping build something larger than a single software platform.
Why Collaboration Matters
One of the most exciting aspects of this initiative is that it is not being approached as a zero-sum market opportunity.
We are actively building a consortium together with other players in the ecosystem to help make employee participation stronger across the Netherlands as a whole.
Because real employee ownership should not be treated purely as a competitive advantage between platforms or providers.
It is a societal advantage.
When employees participate financially in the companies they help grow:
- wealth creation becomes broader,
- long-term alignment improves,
- entrepreneurship becomes more attractive,
- and stronger companies emerge.
That benefits founders, employees, investors, and the economy alike.
A Rare Opportunity to Get Ahead
Policy changes like this do not happen often.
For Dutch startups and scale-ups, this pilot represents a rare opportunity to improve employee participation in a meaningful and financially tangible way.
But opportunities like this reward preparation.
The companies that move early — reviewing structures, organizing compliance, and preparing applications now — will be in the strongest position once the program officially launches.
Because ultimately, this is about more than taxes.
It is about giving employees a fairer share in the value they help create.
And that is something worth building properly.
👉 Start preparing your company at Share Council
