The 30% Ruling in the Netherlands 2026: Complete Guide

Want to skip straight to the numbers? Use our 30% ruling calculator to see exactly how much you could save based on your gross salary and when your ruling starts. And read the 2027 section carefully before you plan anything long-term: the percentage is still a flat 30% in 2026, but it drops to 27% for most holders from 1 January 2027.

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What is the 30% Ruling?

The 30% ruling (30%-regeling) allows qualifying employers to pay up to 30% of an employee’s gross salary as a tax-free allowance. This allowance is intended to cover the “extraterritorial costs” of living abroad, such as:

• Higher cost of living compared to the home country
• Double housing costs during the transition
• Travel to and from the home country
• Cost of maintaining ties abroad
• Language courses and cultural adaptation expenses

In practice, you do not need to prove these expenses. The 30% is a flat allowance applied to your gross salary, and it is not taxed as income.

A Simple Example

Consider an expat earning a gross annual salary of EUR 80,000:

In this example, the 30% ruling saves approximately EUR 11,200 per year in income tax. Over the full 5-year duration, that amounts to over EUR 56,000 in savings.

Note: These figures are simplified illustrations. Your actual tax savings depend on your specific salary, deductions, and applicable tax rates. From 2027 the percentage drops to 27% for most holders, which reduces the saving slightly (see below).

Eligibility Criteria

The 30% ruling is not available to everyone. You must meet all of the following conditions:

1. Recruited or Transferred from Abroad

You must have been recruited from outside the Netherlands or transferred to the Netherlands by your employer. The key requirement is the 150-kilometer rule: you must have been living more than 150 kilometers from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before your Dutch employment started.

This means that if you were already living in the Netherlands, Belgium, western Germany, or Luxembourg when you started your Dutch job, you likely do not qualify.

2. Specific Expertise

You must possess specific expertise that is scarce or not readily available in the Dutch labor market. In practice, this is demonstrated by meeting the salary threshold (see below). The Belastingdienst considers the salary test as the primary indicator of specific expertise for most applicants.

3. Minimum Salary Threshold (2026)

Your taxable salary (after the 30% reduction) must meet or exceed the minimum threshold:

These figures are adjusted annually for inflation. Always check the latest thresholds on the Belastingdienst website or with your tax advisor.

To work out the required gross salary, divide the threshold by 0.7. For the standard threshold: EUR 48,013 / 0.7 = approximately EUR 68,590 gross annual salary.

4. Employer Must Be a Withholding Agent

Your employer must be registered as a withholding agent with the Dutch Tax Authority. Virtually all Dutch employers with employees meet this requirement.

5. Written Agreement

You and your employer must have a written agreement that the 30% ruling will be applied, and the employer and employee must jointly submit the application.

Minimum Salary Requirements for 2026

2026 Thresholds at a Glance

These figures are adjusted annually in line with statutory minimum wage changes. The Belastingdienst publishes the updated amounts each January.

The Under-30 Master’s Degree Exception

If you are under 30 years old and hold a master’s degree (or equivalent) from a recognised institution, the lower threshold of EUR 36,497 (taxable) applies. This is a meaningful discount: it opens the ruling to junior professionals in tech, finance, and the sciences who might otherwise fall just short on salary.

The degree must be genuine and verifiable. The Belastingdienst does not maintain a fixed list of recognised institutions, but degrees from accredited universities in EU/EEA countries, the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia are routinely accepted. Unusual or non-accredited qualifications may require additional documentation.

What Counts as Salary for the Threshold Test?

The threshold is assessed against your employment income – your base salary and any fixed contractual allowances. Variable elements such as bonuses, overtime pay, and profit-sharing are generally excluded from the threshold calculation, though they are included in the overall salary for tax purposes once the ruling is active. This means a variable-heavy package (e.g., base EUR 60,000 plus a EUR 20,000 annual bonus) may look fine on paper but only just clear the threshold on the base salary test.

If your salary is close to the boundary, ask your employer to include a fixed monthly allowance in the contract rather than relying on discretionary bonuses to make up the difference.

How to Apply

The application process is simple, but timing matters.

Step 1: Check Eligibility

Before applying, verify that you meet all criteria: the 150-kilometer rule, the salary threshold, and the recruitment-from-abroad requirement. If you are unsure, consult a tax advisor.

Step 2: Joint Application

The application must be submitted jointly by you and your employer. In practice, many employers handle the process through their HR or payroll department, or through a tax advisory firm.

You submit the application to the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Authority) using the designated form.

Step 3: Timing

You should apply within 4 months of starting your Dutch employment. If you apply later, the ruling will only take effect from the first day of the month following the application, rather than retroactively from your start date. This means late applications cost you money.

Step 4: Processing Time

The Belastingdienst says it will inform you within 8 weeks of receiving the request (belastingdienst.nl, checked 6 October 2026). During this processing period, your employer can already apply the 30% tax-free allowance in your payroll on a provisional basis.

Step 5: Receive the Decision

You will receive a formal decision (beschikking) from the Belastingdienst confirming whether the ruling is granted and for which period.

Recent Changes: What Actually Happened

The 30% ruling has undergone several significant changes in recent years – and one change that was announced, reported everywhere, and then cancelled. Understanding the timeline matters, because different rules apply depending on when your ruling started.

Historical Changes

• Before 2012: The ruling could last up to 10 years
• 2012: Duration reduced to 8 years
• 2019: Duration reduced to 5 years (with transitional arrangements for existing holders)
• 2024: A 30/20/10 step-down was legislated – and then repealed before it took effect (see below)
• 2027: The maximum percentage drops from 30% to 27%, with a higher salary norm Our 2027 guide to the 30% ruling sets out the official transition table and what the drop costs in euros.

The Step-Down That Never Happened

The 2024 Tax Plan (Belastingplan 2024) did introduce a phased reduction: 30% for the first 20 months, 20% for the next 20, and 10% for the final 20. It was widely reported at the time, and plenty of expat blogs and HR intranets still describe it as the law.

It is not. The step-down was scrapped in the 2025 Tax Plan before it ever produced a lower percentage for anyone. The government reversed course after warnings about the effect on the Dutch labour market’s ability to attract skilled staff. Rijksoverheid states it plainly: “In 2025 en 2026 blijft de belastingvrije vergoeding maximaal 30%” – in 2025 and 2026 the tax-free allowance remains a maximum of 30%.

So if you hold the ruling today, your allowance does not drop in month 21. There is no 20% phase, and no 10% phase. It is a flat 30% through the end of 2026.

Transitional Rules and the 2027 Change

What happens from 1 January 2027 depends entirely on when the ruling was first applied to your salary – not when you applied, and not when your employment started. Rijksoverheid publishes this as a three-row table:

The practical reading: if your ruling was already running in 2023, you are grandfathered at 30% for your full remaining duration and never see the 27% rate at all. If it started in 2024, you drop to 27% in 2027 but keep the existing salary threshold. If it started in 2025 or later, you drop to 27% in 2027 and have to meet the higher 2027 threshold.

One important caveat on that last row: the higher 2027 salary norm is a stated government intention, not yet enacted law. It has to be introduced by decree (algemene maatregel van bestuur), which is normally published in the end-of-year decree the December before it takes effect. The figures you will see quoted around the internet – EUR 50,436 and EUR 38,338 – come from the official explanatory notes but are expressed in 2024 price levels, and the norms are indexed every year. The real 2027 amounts will be meaningfully higher than those two numbers, so do not plan around them as if they were final. The currently enacted norms are the 2026 ones.

There is also a trap in the grandfathering. If you fall in the top row but your status as an ingekomen werknemer is interrupted after 31 December 2023 and then restarts, the protection ends at that interruption – you do not carry 30% into the new period. A job gap of up to three months does not count as an interruption, which is the same three-month window that applies when transferring the ruling to a new employer.

There is also a cap on the benefit that already applies. The allowance is calculated on salary up to EUR 262,000 (2026), giving a maximum tax-free allowance of EUR 78,600 per year. Above that salary level the ruling stops adding anything.

If you are making decisions based on the 30% ruling, verify your own row in the table above with your employer’s payroll team or a tax advisor – the date the ruling was first applied is on your beschikking, and it is the number that determines everything.

What Changes in 2027

The percentage is stable right now, which makes 2026 an unusually easy year to plan. The change worth preparing for arrives on 1 January 2027.

The Percentage: 30% Now, 27% From 2027

There are no intermediate phases and no month-21 or month-41 cliff. Within any given year your percentage is the same in month 1 as it is in month 60.

What the Drop to 27% Actually Costs

The step from 30% to 27% is smaller than it sounds, because it changes the size of the exempt slice rather than removing it. Using a gross annual salary of EUR 100,000:

Approximate figures using 2026 tax rates. Actual tax depends on deductions, credits, and social contributions.

The extra EUR 3,000 of taxable income falls in the 35.75% band, so on EUR 100,000 the change costs roughly EUR 1,100 per year – noticeable, but nothing like the collapse the cancelled 30/20/10 model would have caused. At EUR 70,000 gross the annual difference is closer to EUR 800.

The Salary Norm Is the Part to Watch

For most people reading this, the 27% rate is not the real risk. The higher salary norm is.

If your ruling was first applied on or after 1 January 2025, you will need to meet the announced higher 2027 threshold, not the one you cleared when you started. If your taxable salary sits just above the current norm, indexation plus a deliberate step up could push the threshold past your salary – and a ruling lost for insufficient salary cannot be reinstated.

If that describes you, raise it with your employer during your 2026 salary review rather than in December. A modest structural increase is far cheaper than losing the ruling.

Implications for Financial Planning

• Through 2026: Your net pay is stable at 30%. This is the window for building reserves and topping up voluntary pension savings (lijfrente).
• Late 2026: Check your beschikking for the date the ruling was first applied, confirm which transitional row you fall into, and check your salary against the announced 2027 norm as soon as the Belastingdienst publishes it.
• From 2027: If you drop to 27%, expect a small reduction in monthly net pay from January. Budget for it in advance rather than discovering it on your first payslip of the year.

Use our 30% ruling calculator to model your own salary against the current rules.

Tax Savings Calculation by Salary Level

To give you a realistic picture of the financial impact, here is how the 30% ruling affects take-home pay at various salary levels. These calculations use 2026 approximate tax rates and the flat 30% that applies through 2026.

These are simplified estimates. Actual savings depend on your specific deductions, tax credits, and the applicable marginal tax rates. The figures hold for every month of the ruling in 2026; holders who move to the 27% rate in 2027 will see each saving reduced by a few hundred to around a thousand euros a year, depending on salary.

The 30% Ruling and Your Dutch Tax Return

Most of this guide is about the ruling itself. This section covers the part people ask about a year later: the Dutch tax return expats with the 30 percent ruling still have to file, and how the 30 percent ruling Netherlands tax benefits actually appear in that annual tax declaration.

How the 30 Percent Ruling Affects Your Dutch Tax Return

The ruling is applied by your employer in the payroll administration (loonadministratie), not by you in the tax return. Each month your employer splits your agreed salary into a taxable part and the tax-free allowance, and withholds wage tax (loonheffing) on the taxable part only. By the time you file, that work has already been done.

What you see in the aangifte inkomstenbelasting is therefore the result rather than the ruling itself: the pre-filled wage and withholding figures come from what your employer reported. Your job is to check them against your jaaropgaaf (annual income statement):

• The taxable wage on the jaaropgaaf should reflect your salary after the tax-free allowance has been taken off, not your full gross salary.
• The wage tax withheld should correspond to that taxable wage, not to the gross.
• The pre-filled figures in the return should match the jaaropgaaf line for line.

If the ruling started, stopped, or transferred during the year, check that the months are split the way you expect. A payroll error is far easier to correct in the year it happens than three years later.

30% Ruling Netherlands Tax Benefits Are Not a Deduction You Enter Yourself

A common misunderstanding is that there must be a box in the tax declaration where you enter the 30% ruling. There is not. The ruling is not a deduction (aftrekpost) and not a tax credit. It lowers your taxable wage before the return even starts, which is why the benefit never shows up as its own line and is visible only as a lower taxable income.

Two practical consequences. First, if your employer never applied the ruling, you cannot repair that in the return — it has to be corrected in payroll. Second, because the benefit works by reducing taxable salary, the other figures derived from taxable salary are based on the lower amount too, including the social security contributions and pension accrual discussed above. If you are unsure how that works out in your case, check with the Belastingdienst or a tax adviser rather than assuming.

Where the Dutch Tax Declaration Goes Wrong With the 30 Ruling

Four situations cause most of the trouble:

• Changing employers within one year. You receive two jaaropgaven, and the ruling only covers the months your new employer actually applied it. If the fresh application was late, those uncovered months appear in the return as normally taxed salary.
• Part-time and reduced hours. The threshold is tested against the salary you actually earn, not against a full-time equivalent. If your taxable salary for the year falls below the minimum set out above, the ruling lapses – and a lapse for insufficient salary cannot be reinstated.
• Bonuses and variable pay. Whether the tax-free allowance is applied to a bonus depends on how your employer processes it in payroll. Compare the jaaropgaaf against your payslip for the month the bonus was paid.
• Leaving the Netherlands part-way through the year. You then file a migration return covering a resident and a non-resident period, with the ruling applying only to the months it ran. This is the case where a specialist adviser most often earns the fee.

If one of these applies and the figures do not look right, raise it with the Belastingdienst or a tax adviser before you file rather than after. This guide explains how the ruling works; it is not tax advice.

Our Dutch Tax Return Guides

The filing process itself is covered separately:

• How to file your Dutch tax return – which return you need (standard, M or C), the steps in Mijn Belastingdienst and the 30% ruling checks
• The end of partial non-resident status – who is in the transitional group and why the 2026 return is the last one
• Dutch tax return checklist for expats – the documents to have ready before you start

Partial Non-Resident Status (Box 3) Explained

The Headline: It Has Been Abolished

Partial non-resident taxpayer status was abolished with effect from 1 January 2025. The Belastingdienst puts it plainly: “As of your tax return 2025, you can no longer opt for partial foreign tax liability.”

There is one transitional group. If you were already using the 30% ruling before 2024, you may continue to claim partial non-resident status up to and including your 2026 tax return – the return you will file in the spring of 2027. After that it is gone for everybody. The legal condition is slightly narrower than “before 2024”: the Belastingdienst’s knowledge group reads the transitional rule as requiring that the ruling was applied to your pay in the last wage period of 2023. Who exactly is in the group, what happens after a change of employer and what to prepare for 2027 is on our page about the end of partial non-resident status.

So if you are reading this as a recent arrival, this section is background rather than a planning option: you cannot elect the status at all. If you are in the transitional group, you have one more filing in which to use it, and it is worth making sure you do.

How Box 3 Normally Works

The Netherlands taxes savings and investments under Box 3. Rather than taxing actual investment returns, the Dutch system imputes a notional return on your assets above the tax-free allowance and taxes that at 36%. For 2026 the Belastingdienst uses a tax-free allowance of EUR 59,357 per person and deemed returns of 1.28% on bank savings (provisional), 6.00% on investments and other assets and 2.70% on debts. For example, a single person with a EUR 200,000 share portfolio and nothing else pays tax on EUR 140,643: 6.00% of that is a deemed return of EUR 8,439, and 36% of that is roughly EUR 3,038 in Box 3 tax for 2026. Our Box 3 guide explains the calculation for mixed savings and investments.

What Changes With Partial Non-Resident Status

For those still able to elect it, the status treats you as a non-resident for Box 3 purposes. Only Dutch-sourced assets – primarily Dutch real estate – are included in your Box 3 assessment. Everything else is excluded entirely.

Concrete Examples (Transitional Group Only)

The examples below apply only if you are in the transitional group described above, and only up to your 2026 return. They use the 2026 Box 3 figures for a single person with no other Box 3 assets (tax-free allowance EUR 59,357; deemed return 1.28% on savings, 6.00% on investments; rate 36%).

Example 1: British expat with UK savings account

• Savings in Barclays UK: EUR 150,000
• Dutch Box 3 tax without partial non-resident status: approximately EUR 418 for 2026 (EUR 90,643 × 1.28% × 36%)
• Dutch Box 3 tax with partial non-resident status: EUR 0 (foreign savings excluded)
• Saving for 2026: ~EUR 418

Example 2: German expat with investment portfolio

• Share portfolio held at a German broker: EUR 300,000
• Dutch Box 3 tax without partial non-resident status: approximately EUR 5,198 for 2026 (EUR 240,643 × 6.00% × 36%)
• Dutch Box 3 tax with partial non-resident status: EUR 0 (foreign investments excluded)
• Saving for 2026: ~EUR 5,198

Example 3: American expat with a US brokerage account and a Dutch apartment

• US brokerage account: EUR 250,000
• Dutch apartment (owner-occupied): excluded from Box 3 (taxed under Box 1 instead)
• Dutch Box 3 tax without partial non-resident status: approximately EUR 4,118 for 2026 on the US portfolio (EUR 190,643 × 6.00% × 36%)
• Dutch Box 3 tax with partial non-resident status: EUR 0 (US assets excluded; Dutch property not in Box 3 anyway)
• Saving for 2026: ~EUR 4,118

What is NOT Excluded

Partial non-resident status does not shelter Dutch assets. If you own Dutch rental property, Dutch investment accounts, or hold a substantial stake in a Dutch company (Box 2), those remain taxable. The benefit is specifically for foreign savings and investments.

How to Elect the Status While You Still Can

If you are in the transitional group, you elect partial non-resident status in your annual Dutch tax return (aangifte inkomstenbelasting), where there is a specific checkbox for it. It is not automatic – you must actively choose it, and the 2026 return is the last one in which the option exists.

If you are unsure whether the election is beneficial in your case (for example, if you own Dutch investment property and little else abroad), run the numbers with your tax advisor before filing. Because savings carry a much lower deemed return than investments, the saving is small for a savings-only balance and larger for a share portfolio, as the examples show.

Planning for Life After the Exemption

For managing foreign accounts and transferring money internationally, a multi-currency account like Wise → keeps costs down when moving funds between your Dutch and home-country accounts.

The 30% Ruling and Divorce: What Happens?

This is a topic that comes up more often than you might expect. Relationships end, circumstances change, and people want to know whether their tax ruling survives.

The Short Answer

Divorce does not end your 30% ruling. The ruling is tied to your employment contract, not your personal or marital status. As long as you continue to work for the same employer, meet the salary threshold, and remain employed in the Netherlands, the ruling continues unaffected.

The Complications

Salary Threshold After Separation

In some divorce scenarios, income can shift. If you agree to reduce your working hours, take unpaid leave, or change roles as part of a separation agreement, your salary may drop below the minimum threshold. If your taxable salary falls below EUR 48,013 (or EUR 36,497 for the under-30 master’s track), the ruling lapses – and once it lapses due to insufficient salary, it cannot be reinstated.

Your Partner’s Ruling

If your partner was benefiting from a 30% ruling in their own name through their own employer, that ruling is entirely separate from yours. Divorce has no effect on it. However, if your partner was not employed and had no ruling of their own, they have no independent claim to the benefit – it was yours through your employment.

Box 3 After Separation

If you are in the transitional group still electing partial non-resident status for Box 3, note that the option itself ends after your 2026 tax return regardless of your marital situation. Separately, the divorce settlement may change what assets you own – if you receive Dutch real estate as part of the settlement, those assets enter your Box 3 picture. For everyone whose ruling started in 2024 or later, all worldwide savings and investments are already in Box 3, so the settlement’s asset split matters more than it used to.

Changing Employer After Divorce

If a separation results in relocation or a job change, remember the standard transfer rules: no gap of more than 3 months, and your new employer must submit the application within 4 months. The same rules apply regardless of the personal circumstances that prompted the move. See the FAQ section below for more detail on employer changes.

Practical Advice

If you are going through a separation and have questions about the impact on your 30% ruling, consult a tax advisor who specialises in expat taxation before finalising any employment or salary arrangements. The ruling can survive divorce cleanly – but it requires some care to make sure nothing in the settlement inadvertently triggers a lapse.

Additional Benefits of the 30% Ruling

Beyond the direct tax savings, the 30% ruling provides several other advantages:

1. Partial Non-Resident Taxpayer Status (Box 2 and Box 3) – Being Phased Out

Historically, holders of the 30% ruling could choose to be treated as partial non-resident taxpayers for Box 2 (income from substantial shareholding) and Box 3 (savings and investments), which meant:

• Box 3 exemption: Not taxed on worldwide savings and investments, only on Dutch real estate holdings.
• Box 2 treatment: Only taxed on Dutch substantial shareholdings, not foreign ones.

This is no longer available to new holders. The status was abolished as of 1 January 2025. Only expats who were already using the ruling before 2024 can still claim it, and only up to and including their 2026 tax return. If your ruling started in 2024 or later, treat this as history rather than a benefit you can plan around.

For the full picture, including who is still in scope, see the dedicated section above: Partial Non-Resident Status (Box 3) Explained.

2. Dutch Driving License Exchange

With the 30% ruling, you can exchange your foreign driving license for a Dutch one without taking driving lessons or exams. This applies even if your home country does not have an exchange agreement with the Netherlands. Without the 30% ruling, expats from many countries must retake the full Dutch driving exam, which is expensive and has a high failure rate.

3. International School Tax Deduction

The cost of international schooling for your children can be considered part of the extraterritorial expenses covered by the ruling. Discuss the specifics with your tax advisor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Applying Too Late

Missing the 4-month application window costs you money. Apply as soon as possible after starting employment. Set a reminder and follow up with your employer’s HR department.

2. Salary Just Below the Threshold

If your gross salary is close to the threshold, negotiate with your employer to ensure you qualify. A small salary increase can unlock tens of thousands of euros in tax savings over the ruling period.

3. Ignoring the 2027 Change in Financial Planning

Do not assume 30% for the full 5 years either. Unless your ruling was already being applied on or before 31 December 2023, the percentage drops to 27% from January 2027 – and if it started in 2025 or later, a higher salary norm comes with it. Factor both into long-term decisions like housing and savings targets, and equally: do not budget on the basis of the cancelled 30/20/10 step-down, which would understate your benefit badly.

4. Not Considering the Impact on Pension Contributions

Because the 30% allowance reduces your taxable salary, it can also reduce employer pension contributions that are calculated as a percentage of taxable salary. Discuss this with your employer to understand the full picture.

5. Forgetting to Reapply When Changing Employers

If you switch jobs, you must ensure continuity. The gap between employers cannot exceed 3 months, and your new employer must submit a fresh application. Coordinate this well in advance of your last day at your current job.

The 30% Ruling and Your Broader Financial Picture

The 30% ruling does not exist in isolation. It interacts with other aspects of your financial life in the Netherlands:

Mortgage Applications

Dutch banks consider your salary after the 30% ruling when assessing mortgage eligibility. Some banks use your full gross salary, while others use the reduced taxable amount. Since the ruling has a limited duration, banks may also stress-test your ability to afford the mortgage after the ruling expires. Discuss this with a mortgage advisor who has experience with expat clients.

Social Security and Benefits

Your social security contributions are based on your taxable salary (after the 30% reduction). This means lower contributions during the ruling period, which can affect entitlements like unemployment benefits (WW) and disability benefits (WIA). The impact is usually modest but worth understanding.

Retirement Planning

With lower taxable income during the ruling period, your pension accrual may be lower. Consider supplementing with private pension savings or investments. This is particularly important if you plan to stay in the Netherlands long-term.

For help managing international finances during your time in the Netherlands, a multi-currency account like Wise can be useful for handling money in multiple countries. See our complete guide to moving to the Netherlands in 2026 for more on setting up your financial life.

Want to know how much you could save? Use our 30% ruling calculator to estimate your tax benefit based on your salary, or run your figures through the salary checker to see your net take-home pay. For a broader picture of how Dutch taxes work, our Dutch tax system guide for expats explains the full three-box structure.

Manage Your International Finances with Wise

Step-by-Step: What to Do When You Arrive

Here is a practical timeline for managing the 30% ruling alongside your other arrival tasks:

1. Before arrival: Confirm with your employer that they will apply for the 30% ruling and ensure your salary meets the threshold
2. Week 1: Register at your gemeente and receive your BSN (see our relocation guide)
3. Week 1-2: Provide your BSN to your employer for the 30% ruling application
4. Month 1: Employer submits the joint application to the Belastingdienst (within the 4-month window)
5. Month 1-2: Employer can begin applying the 30% reduction provisionally in your payslip
6. Month 2-4: Receive the formal decision from the Belastingdienst
7. First tax year: File your annual tax return by May 1 of the following year. Note that partial non-resident status is no longer available to rulings that started in 2024 or later, so budget for Dutch Box 3 tax on your foreign savings and investments. Use our Dutch tax return checklist for expats to make sure you have everything you need before you start

Set Up Your Salary Account and Health Insurance

Two arrival tasks run alongside the ruling. Your employer pays your net salary into a bank account, and bunq lets you open an account with a Dutch NL IBAN before you have a BSN; you provide it in the app within 90 days (bunq). Health insurance is mandatory once you live here: take it out no later than 4 months after arriving, with cover from the day you arrived (Government.nl).

Open a bunq account →

Check a.s.r. health insurance →

Do You Need a Tax Advisor?

For simple cases – a single employee with one Dutch employer and no foreign income or assets – the 30% ruling can be managed by a knowledgeable HR department without a separate tax advisor.

However, a specialist expat tax advisor is strongly recommended if:

• You have income from multiple countries
• You own property abroad
• You have significant savings or investments in foreign accounts
• Your partner also works in the Netherlands
• You are a business owner or have freelance income
• You want to optimise the interaction between Box 1, Box 2, and Box 3 taxation
• You are dealing with the transitional rules that determine whether you keep 30% after 2026

A good expat tax advisor typically charges EUR 150-500 for an initial consultation and EUR 300-800 for annual tax filing assistance. Given the amounts at stake with the 30% ruling, this is generally a worthwhile investment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage is the 30% ruling in each year?

It is a flat 30% in both 2025 and 2026, for every year of your ruling. The 30/20/10 step-down (30% for months 1–20, 20% for months 21–40, 10% for months 41–60) was legislated in the 2024 Tax Plan but repealed in the 2025 Tax Plan before it ever applied to anyone. Any source still describing it as current is out of date.

From 1 January 2027 the maximum falls to 27%, and a higher salary norm applies. Which of those changes hits you depends on when the ruling was first applied to your salary: on or before 31 December 2023 means you keep 30% and the current norm throughout; during 2024 means 27% from 2027 with the current norm; on or after 1 January 2025 means 27% from 2027 under the new higher norm.

Use our 30% ruling calculator to model the impact on your own salary.

What is the minimum salary for the 30% ruling in 2026?

The minimum taxable salary (after the 30% reduction has been applied) is:

• EUR 48,013 for standard applicants aged 30 and over
• EUR 36,497 for applicants under 30 who hold a qualifying master’s degree
• No minimum for scientific researchers at designated institutions

To find the required gross salary, divide by 0.7:

• Standard: EUR 48,013 ÷ 0.7 = ~EUR 68,590 gross
• Under-30 master’s track: EUR 36,497 ÷ 0.7 = ~EUR 52,138 gross

These thresholds are updated annually by the Belastingdienst. Always check the current figures before applying.

Does the 30% ruling apply to Box 3 wealth tax?

It did, but not any more. Partial non-resident taxpayer status was abolished with effect from 1 January 2025, and it excluded all foreign savings and investments from Dutch Box 3 wealth tax. As of your 2025 tax return, the option is no longer there.

The one exception is transitional: if you were already using the 30% ruling before 2024, you can still claim the status up to and including your 2026 tax return (filed in spring 2027). If your ruling started in 2024 or later, you never had access to it.

What that means concretely: an expat with EUR 200,000 in a UK savings account used to pay nothing in Dutch Box 3 tax on it. Outside the transitional group, that same expat now pays roughly EUR 3,800/year. If you have meaningful assets abroad, this change is worth more attention than the 2027 percentage cut.

See the full Partial Non-Resident Status section above for detailed examples.

Divorce does not end your 30% ruling. The ruling is attached to your employment, not your marital status. As long as your employment continues, your salary stays above the threshold, and you remain in the Netherlands, the ruling is unaffected.

The key risk is a post-divorce salary reduction. If reduced hours or a role change pushes your gross salary below ~EUR 68,590 (standard threshold), the ruling lapses. Once lost for insufficient salary, it cannot be reinstated. Your ex-partner’s own ruling (if they had one through their employer) is entirely separate and unaffected.

Can I still get the 30% ruling if I change employers?

Yes. You can transfer the ruling to a new employer with three conditions:

1. The gap between jobs must not exceed 3 months
2. Your new employer must submit the application within 4 months of your new start date
3. Your new salary must still meet the current year’s minimum threshold

Final Thoughts

The 30% ruling remains one of the most significant financial advantages of working in the Netherlands as an expat. It is still a flat 30% in 2026, and even after the drop to 27% in 2027 the tax savings over a 5-year period can amount to tens of thousands of euros.

The key is to act early: negotiate your salary with the threshold in mind, ensure your employer submits the application within 4 months of your start date, and seek professional tax advice for complex situations.

If you are planning your move to the Netherlands, our complete guide to moving to the Netherlands in 2026 covers all the other key steps, from visas and housing to health insurance and banking. And if you are ready to start learning the language, check out the best apps for learning Dutch in 2026.