Application for BBZ benefit

Municipality of Amsterdam

The application form contains a decision tree that determines, based on the applicant's answers, whether the applicant will receive an automatic award of the BBZ benefit. If further investigation is required based on the applicant's answers, the application is given to an employee for investigation and processing is done manually.

Last change on 3rd of July 2025, at 9:17 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Work

Begin date

4/2022

End date

nvt

Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

Bijstand of lening aanvragen voor ondernemers (Bbz) - Gemeente Amsterdam

Link to source registration

nvt

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of green track in the Bbz application form is to give applicants clarity on their application for Bbz benefits as soon as possible. This contributes to livelihood security. Applications in green track are granted without the intervention of an employee, with the applicant receiving a (positive) decision on his application within two weeks. The remaining applications in red track follow the usual route of a manual assessment by the professional. Here, however, the points of attention for the further assessment of the BBZ application are provided. Providing the points for attention contributes to faster decision-making.

In the green track, about 5% of the applications are granted without the intervention of an employee.

The starting point is that we trust the customer and use the answers in the application form as input to determine entitlement to a BBZ benefit. The customer's answers are compared with data we can access from other sources. Effectively the same check that staff do manually. If the client's answers match the sources and if the entrepreneur declares to generate sufficient income again within six months, the benefit is automatically granted.

An entrepreneur can ask the municipality of Amsterdam for a temporary supplement to income (benefit), a loan to pay debts or make investments (business capital) or both. The entrepreneur applies for support from the Besluit bijstand zelfstandigen (Bbz).

The application form contains a decision tree that, based on the applicant's answers, determines whether the applicant will receive an automatic award of the BBZ benefit (=green track). If, based on the applicant's answers, further investigation is required (=red trace), the application is given to an employee for investigation and processing is done manually.

Considerations

Field not filled in.

Human intervention

No people are involved in an automatic award of short-term BBZ benefit.

However, quarterly spot checks are carried out on whether the automatic (positive) decision is correct.

In red track applications follow the usual route of a manual assessment by the professional.

In green track, around 5% of applications are granted without the intervention of a staff member. 25% of automatically granted BBZ benefits were checked by Enforcement in the sample. No errors were found in this process.

Risk management

There is a decision tree in the application form and it is rule-based. The preconditions are not dynamic, only the standards are adjusted (semi-) annually. They are not adjusted (automatically) in response to entered data. Risks are assessed as low.

The risk is that the applicant fills in incorrect information in the application form that would lead to a different outcome, such as e.g. a higher amount of profit in the past which does mean that there is a viable business in the past or incorrect amounts when determining assets. These 2 issues cannot be assessed automatically. The other answers about the housing situation and amount of other income are compared with available sources.

A user study took place before the form was put into use. This investigated whether the form is comprehensible and which questions require an explanation so that the chance of wrong answers is small.

The decision accompanying the automatic award states that this decision was taken on the basis of the answers given by the applicant and that if, after investigation, it turns out to be based on incorrect data, we will reclaim the benefit.

The risk of a short-term BBZ benefit being wrongly granted is small. Random checks are carried out, which have not revealed any errors so far. In addition, the BBZ benefit is always granted as a loan. The following financial year, when the annual accounts and IB returns are known, the final entitlement to the BBZ benefit is determined. The applicant must then submit all financial data for the previous financial year. In the event of any discrepancies, the entrepreneur must repay the excess benefit or still receive the shortfall.

Legal basis

Implementation of Decree on assistance for self-employed persons (Bbz), performance of statutory duty.

- Sections 7,9, 11,53a Participation Act

- Self-employment Assistance Decree 2004 (BBZ)

- Income Support for Older and Partially Disabled Unemployed Workers Act (IOAZ)

Link to Processing Index

Zie Stedelijk Kader verwerken persoonsgegevens of verwerking ‘Uitvoering Bbz en IOAZ’ in het register van verwerking, of de privacyverklaring voor deze verwerking https://www.amsterdam.nl/privacy/specifieke/privacyverklaringen-ondernemen/bijstandsuitkering/

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

Automatic allocation (green track) is only possible when applying for a BBZ benefit. Applications involving (also) business capital are always assessed manually.

When applying for BBZ benefits, both the legitimacy and the viability of the business are assessed. Whether the applicant meets all criteria is asked in the application form.

1. Eligibility criteria.

To qualify for BBZ, the applicant must be dependent on income from the business and meet the definition of self-employed from the BBZ. According to the definition in article 1b of the BBz, a self-employed person is an interested party someone who:

- is older than 18 and has not yet reached the state pension age;

- works at least 1,225 hours a year in his/her own business or independent profession;

- runs the business in the Netherlands;

- has all required licences and/or diplomas;

has full control in that business or independent profession and bears the financial risks thereof (possibly together with partners with whom the business or independent profession is carried on).

- These data are requested in the application form

2. Enterprise viability criteria.

- The average profit per year over the past 3 financial years is higher than 90% of the benefit standard per year

- The applicant expects to regain sufficient income within a maximum of 6 months, resulting in a maximum of 6 months of benefit.

These dates are requested in the application form.

3. Criteria for green track exclusion

- No (combination with) an application for business capital

- Entrepreneur must have been working as an entrepreneur for at least 18 months

- No renewal application

- There is no benefit increase with housing allowance or disability insurance

- There are no breadwinners present

- No non-eligible partner is present

- The applicant is not registered at the specified address or the partner is registered at another address

- Total assets are above the Bbz asset limit

- There must have been turnover in the past 6 months.

- There must be no bankruptcy or suspension of payments.

Technical design

In addition to the applicant's answers in the application form, we consult the following sources:

- Suwinet (Belastingdienst, DUO, SVB, KvK)

- Socrates (in the case of an already known client)

- The population register (Basic Registration of Persons)

- The trade register of the Chamber of Commerce (CoC)

The application form uses a decision tree. Applicant data that could lead to bias are not recorded and do not play a role in the application decision tree. Gender, age and nationality are recorded but play no role in the decision tree. Other special personal data are not extracted and play no role in the decision tree.

An automatic award is made if no differences are found between the applicant's answers and the sources consulted and the applicant meets the criteria of legitimacy and viability and there is no question of any of the criteria for green track exclusion.

External provider

Developed in-house