Bill on transparency of civil society organisations
On 1 April 2025, the House of Representatives adopted a legislative proposal on the Transparency and Combating Undermining by Civil Society Organisations Act (Wetsvoorstel transparantie en tegengaan ondermijning door maatschappelijke organisaties, or ‘WTMO’ - hereinafter ‘the Bill’). Civil society organisations such as universities, hospitals, healthcare institutions and housing associations are an important part of Dutch society. These organisations make a valuable contribution to societal issues, such as safety, health and citizen confidence. The purpose of the Bill is to combat the financing of activities that undermine the Dutch rule of law or public authority. Undermining of the rule of law occurs when deliberate and structural activities affect the fundamental values of the open democratic legal order. Examples include the influencing of policy by reinforcing anti-democratic or anti-integrative behaviour.
Article written by John Paans & Loek Slob
1. Introduction
The Bill lists the organisations that fall within its scope: associations, foundations, foreign legal entities, organisations with one or more religious denominations, and other legal entities carrying out long-term societal activities. The Bill is yet to be adopted by the Dutch Senate. If approved, it will apply to more than 350,000 social organisations in the Netherlands. Of this large number of civil society organisations, about 200,000 foundations currently have no reporting and filing obligations.
The Bill essentially introduces two new obligations:
- A disclosure obligation regarding domestic and foreign donations received by civil society organisations. Any donations considered to be exceptionally high may trigger a request for an inspection of the documents that contain information on the origin of these donations and the identity of the donors; and
- A filing obligation for foundations that are not yet required to file financial information in the Trade Register. Foundations must then file their balance sheet and statement of income and expenditure as part of the combat against abuse, such as tax fraud or terrorist financing.
The newly introduced rules are laid down in the Bill, in an effort to increase transparency about donations and donors . The filing obligation rules are being implemented through amendments to Book 2 of the Civil Code, the Trade Register Act 2007 and the Economic Offences Act.
• Bill aims to increase transparency in respect of donations to civil society organisations
• Combating the undermining of the rule of law
2. Providing insight into donations and donors
Under the Bill, civil society organisations are required to provide insight into the source, purpose and amount of donations at the request from certain government agencies, such as the Mayor’s Office, the Public Prosecution Service (‘PPS’) and the Tax Administration. The Bill does not impose any additional administrative obligations to keep records of donations beyond the currently applicable obligations under Title 9 Book 2 Civil Code.
The competent government agencies will have the right to inquire with civil society organisations about both domestic and foreign donations. This reinforces the information position of government agencies with supervisory, monitoring and investigative powers. Under the Bill, the other government agencies and the mayor of the municipality in which the civil society organisation is located or carries out its activities have the power to request certain information from the civil society organisation. The board of the applicable civil society organisation is obliged to cooperate with this request.
If the requested information reveals substantial donations from abroad, the likelihood of unwanted foreign influence is higher. Whether donations qualify as substantial donations is not determined by the legislator, but the relationship between the donation amount and the income of the civil society organisation receiving it is taken into account. Only donations exceeding EUR 15,000 may be requested, in accordance with the provisions of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act. Donations in excess of this amount are (more quickly) regarded as unusual transactions. Hence, if they occur the PPS has the power to request personal details of the donors. These donations do need to be substantial.
Enforcement
If the board refuses to cooperate with a request for information, fails to provide personal details, or provides incorrect or incomplete information, this is considered to constitute an economic offence. Directors then risk imposition of a director disqualification as well as penalties, including six months’ detention or a fine.
If activities are undertaken that seek to undermine the Dutch democratic rule of law or public authority, the PPS can impose an order to cease and desist from certain activities (cease-and-desist order) for up to two years. To ensure enforcement of the cease-and-desist order, the court may impose a financial incentive through a penalty payment. This penalty payment becomes due once a civil society organisation disregards the order and fails to cease the activities involved. In cooperation with the PPS, the grounds and type of conduct that may give rise to a cease-and-desist order are explained.
Impact
As indicated , although the Bill does not introduce impose any additional administrative obligations for civil society organisations, from now on these organisations must be prepared to provide government agencies with certain information, even if they were not previously required to do so. This includes information on both domestic and foreign donations.
• If requested, civil society organisations must provide insight into information on donations
• In the event of risks, government agencies are given powers to request information on donations and donors
3. Filing obligation for foundations
The second obligation under the Bill regards the filing obligation, which applies only to non-commercial foundations. The filing obligation aims to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing by increasing the transparency of the financial position of foundations. The choice to apply this obligation only to foundations is because indications of money laundering and terrorist financing are mainly detected at foundations. It is easier to abuse foundations to conceal the nature, origin or destination of assets, as well as the identity of those involved.
To date, foundations have been required to prepare annual balance sheets and statements of income and expenditure. Under accounting law, only commercial foundations must also file these documents with the Trade Register and these documents are fully accessible to the public after filing. This is why, if the Bill is adopted, foundations that are currently not required to publish these documents, i.e. all non-commercial foundations (including Trust Office Foundations (Stichtingen Administratiekantoor, or ‘STAKs’) and Public Benefit Organisations (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen, or ‘ANBIs’), will have to file the documents. The non-commercial foundations will then have to file the documents with the Trade Register within 10 months of the end of the financial year. The filing obligation applies to financial years commencing after the Bill comes into force.
Enforcement
Failure to comply with the filing obligation will also constitute an economic offence, similar to failure on the part of directors to comply with their disclosure obligation. This has the same consequences as failure to comply with the obligation to disclose donations and donors. In this situation, the PPS is also authorised to impose a cease-and-desist order on non-commercial foundations under the same conditions as applicable for the cease-and-desist order of the first obligation. This may likewise include imposing the penalty payment.
Impact
So far, only the PPS is authorised to request financial information from foundations. After the Bill is in force, other government agencies - including the police, the PPS, the General Intelligence and Security Service (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst), and the Tax Administration - will have the right to inspect the documents filed. The Bill provides that the filed records of non-commercial foundations are not to be publicly disclosed, but only to be made available for inspection by the relevant government agencies. So this differs from the accessibility required for the filed financial records of commercial foundations.
• Foundations must file financial information to combat abuse
• Only authorised government agencies have access; no full disclosure
4. Conclusion
Impact
The intention is to implement the Bill as of 1 January 2026. When this is done, the Bill will introduce profound changes for civil society organisations, especially for non-commercial foundations. The key objective is to prevent both unwanted domestic and foreign influence within these organisations and to combat money laundering and terrorist financing through foundation structures. The main points are listed below.
- Civil society organisations are obliged to cooperate with requests for information from government agencies relating to domestic and foreign donations received. To this end, government agencies will be given more extensive powers, including insight into the origin, purpose and amount involved in donations. If substantial amounts are involved, personal details of donors may also be requested.
- Non-commercial foundations must guarantee financial transparency by filing their balance sheet and statement of income and expenditure with the Trade Register. These documents are not publicly accessible, but can be consulted by the competent government agencies. This differs from the full accessibility of the financial documents of commercial foundations.
- Both obligations are subject to the enforcement instruments, which give the PPS the power to take action against civil society organisations seeking to undermine the Dutch rule of law or public authority. Civil society organisations may have cease-and-desist orders imposed on them for failing to comply with the new obligations, with a possible penalty payment being added to ensure compliance. Finally, a director disqualification may be imposed if directors fail to cooperate with a request for disclosure of donations and donors.
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Our expertise encompasses legal, tax, audit and governance issues. We have extensive experience in advising civil society organisations. We can support your organisation with the necessary preparations required under this Bill.
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