In contrast to Rotterdam, the Amsterdam council does want to support independent entrepreneurs and is earmarking 7 million euros for this. The taxi sector is one of the most affected sectors where regulations have been cut back for entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, there is currently no evidence of any recovery, quite the contrary. After school transport came to a halt, the little work that was left has completely disappeared, with a few exceptions. The sector is not only seriously affected in the major cities.

Every day we speak to entrepreneurs who have been hit hard. The last savings are now in the taxi company and debts are now starting to accumulate. We don't even add to that the postponement of payments that have arisen at the tax authorities, lease companies and banks.

Many entrepreneurs are looking for alternatives to provide the necessary basic wages and use their taxi to transport packages. According to the '2000 Passenger Transport Act', the transport of goods by taxi is possible. But the taxi driver has to meet some conditions meet. At least 90% of the kilometers driven must be taxi-related, otherwise the exemption for paying motor vehicle tax will lapse. The VAT on that freight transport is different from that on taxi-related transport. A turnover tax / VAT of 21% applies to goods transport and 9% for taxi-related transport.

In the case of transport of packages (non-taxi-related transport), the journey is not directly used for the transport of persons for a fee and is then referred to as an 'unladen journey'. But an unladen journey can also be taxi-related. This leads to a number of practical situations in which it is unclear which of the two categories - taxi-related transport or non-taxi-related transport - a particular trip falls.

Airport transport is also dramatic. In Eindhoven, the airport is almost silent, not a tourist can be found who has flown in for Christmas. Same scenario in Schiphol. Turkey will no longer allow flights from the Netherlands until further notice, because the new English variant of the corona virus has been found here. Flights from the United Kingdom, Denmark and South Africa are also not allowed for that reason. The measures do not have an end date and the situation for taxi drivers at the airport is therefore hopeless.

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employment opportunities

The passenger transport sector has been hit very hard by the corona measures. Due to the restrictions, fewer people traveled by public transport. Between February and July, 7% of employee jobs in passenger transport were lost nationally. The demand for bus, taxi and tram drivers has plummeted at the beginning of the corona crisis and has not yet recovered. The number of unemployment benefits for scheduled bus drivers and tram drivers increased by 56%.

Also read: Taxi transport has come to a standstill for primary and secondary schools

airport transportation
airport transportation
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