If you can’t beat them, join them: entrepreneurs near the border with Germany are suffering because taxes there are lower and the Dutch like a bargain. The government should help them to set up shop across the border, writes Annemarie van Gaal.

Dutch entrepreneurs who live near the border with Germany are having a difficult time of it. The difference in tax levels means petrol is 20 cents cheaper in the neighbouring country. A crate of beer can be up to €2.50 cheaper. People fill up across the border and do their weekly shop there as well.

In 2013, the Dutch sales tax on beer was increased by 10%. This did not translate itself into a higher revenue for the state. On the contrary. The drop in beer sales resulted in a €28m reduction in VAT revenue, topping the extra €24m in sales tax by €4m. In spite of this, another tax increase was put on beer this year, this time of 5.75%.

Trade organisations are quoting figures of between 20% to 50% loss of revenue for the entrepreneurs who live near the border. They predict hundreds of businesses will go under. Going bankrupt is a tragedy and in its wake comes loss of tax revenue and a rise in benefit payments.

The government hasn’t come up with a solution yet. It wants to wait for three months and then have another look. Three months is a long time in an entrepreneur’s life, especially those whose businesses are tottering on the brink. The government has no idea what these people are having to cope with.

The trade organisations want the government to compensate entrepreneurs for their loss of income. That is not the easiest of solutions. How do you determine how much of the loss of revenue is down to Dutch people hopping over the border to do their shopping? And who gets what in relation to the distance to the border?

Pack up

If the government doesn’t cancel the tax increases there’s only one option left open for these entrepreneurs: to pack up and hop over the border themselves. The lower German taxes should make it possible for them to make a profit.

The government offers people on benefits with an ethnic background a deal if they want to go back to their country of origin: they get a ticket, money to help with the cost of moving and €600 a month for the rest of their lives.

Why not do the same for entrepreneurs who live near the border? Give them a one-off premium to move to Germany and set up shop there. Fewer businesses near the border will also lift some of the pressure on those who stay behind.

I know, it’s a crazy scheme. But so is the repatriation scheme. The state would lose revenue, it’s true. But if an entrepreneur goes bankrupt it would miss out just the same. The good thing is that where there is no bankruptcy there are no benefits to pay. The biggest advantage of all is that the entrepreneur can continue to be an entrepreneur.

Annemarie van Gaal is head of AM Media and a writer and columnist.