30% Ruling in 2026: Still Worth It?

The 30% ruling has been the Netherlands’ flagship incentive for attracting internationally mobile talent for decades. It has also been the target of reform, criticism, budget cuts, and political debate for just as long.

As of mid-2026 the ruling is in better shape than most articles suggest. The 30/20/10 step-down that was announced in 2024 and reported everywhere was scrapped before it ever applied to anyone, so the allowance is still a flat 30% for the full 60 months. What is genuinely weaker is the horizon: the maximum drops to 27% on 1 January 2027 for most holders, and the Box 3 exemption that used to sit alongside the ruling has been abolished.

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What the 30% Ruling Actually Is (Brief Refresher)

The 30% ruling (30%-regeling) allows a qualifying employer to pay an employee a tax-free allowance equal to a percentage of their gross salary. This allowance is intended to cover “extraterritorial costs” of living and working in the Netherlands.

In practical terms: it reduces your taxable income, which reduces your income tax and social security contributions.

2025 and 2026: a flat 30% tax-free allowance for up to 5 years, in every month of the ruling.

From 1 January 2027: a maximum of 27% for most holders, with 30% retained under transitional rules for anyone whose ruling was already being applied on or before 31 December 2023. Our 2027 guide to the 30% ruling sets out the official transition table and what the drop costs in euros.

The 30/20/10 Step-Down: Scrapped, Not Law

This is the single biggest piece of misinformation still circulating about the ruling, so it needs saying plainly. The 2024 Tax Plan did legislate a phased reduction — 30% for months 1-20, 20% for months 21-40, 10% for months 41-60. It was reported everywhere, and expat blogs and HR intranets still describe it as current law.

It is not. The step-down was repealed in the 2025 Tax Plan before it ever produced a lower percentage for anyone, after warnings about the effect on the Netherlands’ ability to attract skilled staff. Rijksoverheid states it directly: in 2025 and 2026 the tax-free allowance remains a maximum of 30%.

So there is no 20% phase and no 10% phase. Your allowance does not drop in month 21, and it is the same in month 60 as in month 1.

What does change: 27% from 2027

The date that matters is when the ruling was first applied to your salary — not when you applied, not when your employment started. It is stated on your beschikking.

Two caveats. The grandfathering in the top row lapses if your status as an ingekomen werknemer is interrupted after 31 December 2023 and then restarts; a job gap of up to three months does not count as an interruption. And the higher 2027 salary norm is an announced intention that still has to be set by decree — the figures circulating online (€50,436 and €38,338) are in 2024 price levels and will be indexed upwards, so do not treat them as final.

There is also a cap that already applies: the allowance is calculated on salary up to €262,000 (Balkenendenorm, 2026), giving a maximum tax-free amount of €78,600 per year.

The ruling still cannot exceed 5 years (60 months) from your Dutch employment start date.

Real Numbers: How Much Do You Actually Save?

These calculations use the flat 30% rate that applies throughout 2026 and simplified tax assumptions (ignoring pension contributions, social security caps, and the heffingskorting for clarity). Because there are no step-down phases, the same annual figures apply in every year of the ruling within 2026.

Scenario A: €50,000 Gross Salary

Scenario B: €75,000 Gross Salary

Scenario C: €100,000 Gross Salary

Scenario D: €150,000 Gross Salary

Your Saving Over the Full 5 Years

Because there are no step-down phases, the five-year total is close to a simple multiplication — with one adjustment for the 2027 rate change.

For a €100,000 Gross Salary

If your ruling was already applied on or before 31 December 2023 (30% throughout):

• €15,300 per year × 5 = **€76,500 over five years**

If your ruling starts in 2026 and moves to 27% in 2027:

That is roughly 92% of the value of the old flat-30% regime — a materially different picture from the 67% that the cancelled 30/20/10 model would have produced. If you have read that the ruling is now worth two-thirds of what it was, that number came from a law that was repealed.

When the Ruling Is Still Very Worth It

High Earners, in Every Month of the Ruling

For someone earning €100,000+, the ruling delivers €1,000-1,800/month in net pay difference — and it does so for all 60 months, not just the first 20. Over five years that is €70,000+ in additional take-home pay, which is why the ruling carries so much weight in salary negotiations.

When Your Employer Adds the Ruling on Top of Gross Salary

There is an important distinction in how employers structure the ruling:

Method 1 (beneficial): The employer pays you €100,000 gross, plus the 30% allowance on top. Your effective cost to the employer is €130,000, but you take home more net.

Method 2 (neutral): The employer restructures your €130,000 package so that €100,000 is taxable and €30,000 is the tax-free allowance. Your gross equivalent is the same but the ruling has been absorbed into the total package.

In Method 1, the ruling gives you a genuine pay increase. In Method 2, it is a restructuring that benefits you versus a package without the ruling but at the same cost-to-employer.

Always ask employers which method they use. The difference matters significantly.

For the Transitional Group Still Using Partial Non-Resident Status

Partial foreign tax liability (partiële buitenlandse belastingplicht) used to be the second half of the ruling’s value: it excluded foreign savings and investments from Dutch Box 3. It was abolished with effect from 1 January 2025 and can no longer be elected from the 2025 tax return onwards.

One group is still in scope. If you were already using the 30% ruling before 2024, you may claim the status up to and including your 2026 tax return (filed in spring 2027). For a profile with foreign real estate, a large foreign portfolio, or substantial foreign Box 2 income, that final election can still be worth thousands — make sure you use it and have a tax advisor confirm it is beneficial in your case.

If your ruling started in 2024 or later, this is history rather than a planning option: your worldwide savings and investments are taxed in Dutch Box 3 at the normal rate (36% on a deemed return in 2026). For anyone with meaningful assets abroad, that loss outweighs the 2027 drop from 30% to 27%.

When the Ruling Barely Matters

Minimum Eligible Salary

At the minimum qualifying salary (€48,013 taxable after the ruling in 2026, roughly €68,590 gross), the saving is around €8,000-8,500/year, every year of the ruling. Over five years that is roughly €38,000-42,000 depending on whether you keep 30% or move to 27% in 2027.

That is real money, but at this level the ruling is one component of your finances rather than the centrepiece it is for high earners — and the administrative work of maintaining it, transferring it on a job change, and keeping your salary above an annually indexed norm weighs relatively heavier. The risk to watch is the norm itself: if your taxable salary sits just above it, indexation can push the threshold past your salary, and a ruling lost for insufficient salary cannot be reinstated.

Late in the Ruling Period

The benefit does not shrink as you go — at €80,000 gross you save roughly €10,000/year in month 60 just as in month 1, and about €9,000 once the 27% rate applies. What does approach is the cliff at month 60, when the allowance stops entirely. From roughly the 42-month mark it is worth planning the next step: will your employer lift your gross salary when the ruling ends, are you staying in the Netherlands long-term, and what does your budget look like on a fully taxable salary?

Income Near the Dutch Average

For someone earning €50,000-60,000 gross, the ruling is often out of reach altogether: at €60,000 gross the taxable salary after the allowance is €42,000, below the 2026 norm of €48,013. Where it does apply, the benefit is meaningful but not spectacular, and against the Dutch cost of living it should be a factor in your decision rather than the sole basis for it.

The Ruling and Job Changes

The ruling is linked to your employment, not to you personally. When you change jobs, your new employer must apply to transfer it. Key rules:

• No gap longer than 3 months between jobs
• New employer must apply within 4 months of your new start date
• The 5-year clock continues from your original start date — it does not restart
• Your new salary must still meet the current year’s norm

One point that is easy to miss: if you fall in the group that keeps 30% after 2026 because the ruling was already being applied on or before 31 December 2023, that protection depends on your status as an ingekomen werknemer not being interrupted. A gap of up to three months does not count as an interruption, but a longer break ends the grandfathering — and you would then move to 27% from 2027 like everyone else.

Salary Norm for 2026

The 30% ruling is not available to everyone who earns a salary in the Netherlands. To qualify, your taxable income after the ruling must meet the minimum salary norm. In 2026:

To find the gross equivalent, divide the norm by 0.70: €48,013 ÷ 0.70 = ~€68,590 gross. The norms are indexed every year, so check the current figures before you rely on them — and note that if your ruling was first applied on or after 1 January 2025, a higher norm has been announced for 2027 (still to be set by decree).

The Political Risk: Is the Ruling Safe?

The 30% ruling has been politically contested in the Netherlands for years. Critics argue it distorts the labour market and benefits high-income foreigners. Supporters argue it is essential for attracting international talent.

The recent history makes the point. A 30/20/10 step-down was legislated in the 2024 Tax Plan and then repealed in the 2025 Tax Plan before it took effect; the cut to 27% from 2027 was put in its place; the Box 3 exemption was abolished outright. Beyond the 2027 change and the salary norm that comes with it, no further changes are confirmed — but the ruling has a track record of being adjusted in budget cycles, and it has moved in both directions.

Practical implication: Do not make a long-term financial decision (buying a house, making a pension contribution strategy, deciding whether to come to the Netherlands) based on the assumption that the ruling in its current form will last your full 5-year period. Plan for scenarios where it changes.

the editorial assessment in Mid-2026

The ruling is somewhat weaker than it was in 2021, but far less so than the headlines suggested. The step-down never happened; what happened is a cut to 27% from 2027 and the loss of the Box 3 exemption. On a €100,000 salary a ruling starting now is worth roughly 92% of what the old flat-30% regime delivered over five years.

For professionals earning above €80,000 gross the benefit is substantial and constant — €700-1,500+/month in net pay difference for all 60 months, dropping by roughly a tenth when the 27% rate arrives.

The ruling matters most:

• At high salary levels, across all five years
• When your employer adds it on top of your gross package (not absorbed)
• When your ruling was already being applied on or before 31 December 2023, since you keep 30% throughout

One practical implication worth noting: the ruling can significantly boost your mortgage capacity while it runs. If you are thinking about buying property, the Dutch mortgage guide for expats with foreign income explains how lenders treat the 30% allowance in their calculations — the difference can be €100,000+ in borrowing capacity depending on which bank you approach.

The ruling matters least:

• Near the minimum salary norm, where indexation is a live risk
• When most of your wealth sits abroad, since the Box 3 exemption that used to accompany the ruling is gone
• When structured as salary redistribution rather than genuine addition

Building a financial cushion alongside the ruling makes sense — the savings are real but the ruling ends after five years, and Dutch expenses (including rent, healthcare, and unexpected costs) do not pause. Our emergency fund guide for expats in the Netherlands walks through how much to set aside and where to keep it while still getting decent interest.

If you are negotiating a move to the Netherlands and the ruling is central to your financial plan, get proper advice. Use Wise to model the actual after-tax income in EUR, compare it honestly with what you earn at home, and base the decision on the rules that actually apply — a flat 30% in 2026, 27% from 2027 for most holders — rather than on articles still describing the 30/20/10 step-down that was cancelled.

Wise multi-currency account for comparing salaries across countries

Useful Resources

• Belastingdienst: 30% ruling current rules
• 30% ruling application via your employer
• Nibud: Income tax calculator
• IamExpat: 30% ruling explained
• Expatax: Tax advisors specialising in expats
• Wise: International salary management
• KPMG Netherlands: Expatriate tax services
• EY Netherlands: 30% ruling updates

What Happens When the Ruling Ends

The end of the 30% ruling — after the full 5-year period — is a significant financial event for most expats, and one that many people are not fully prepared for.

The income impact: when the ruling ends, your taxable income increases substantially in one step. At a EUR 80,000 gross salary the ruling is worth roughly EUR 700–900 per month in net income at the 30% rate, and around EUR 650–800 once the 27% rate applies from 2027. There is no gradual taper before that: the allowance runs at full value until month 60 and then stops.

The Box 3 impact: partial non-resident status used to exempt your foreign bank accounts, investments, and property from Dutch Box 3. It was abolished with effect from 1 January 2025, so for most people this is no longer a change that arrives with the end of the ruling — it has already happened. If you were using the ruling before 2024 you are in the transitional group and can still elect the status up to and including your 2026 tax return; from your 2027 return your worldwide savings and investments enter Dutch Box 3. If your ruling started in 2024 or later, they already do.

Planning the transition: the ruling end date is predictable. Most expats know their start date and can calculate the month it ends. Use the 12–18 months before expiry to:

• Review your Box 3 assets and understand what becomes newly taxable
• Model your after-ruling net income against your expected expenses
• Consider whether any changes to your employment structure, investment allocation, or housing situation make sense
• Discuss with your employer whether your salary or package should be adjusted to reflect the end of the ruling

Some employers specifically set salaries during the ruling period assuming the 30% benefit exists, without a guarantee of increase when it ends. Review your employment contract terms around this if you have a long-term position.

The permanent resident calculation: Once you are a full Dutch tax resident without the ruling, your effective tax position may be similar to a Dutch national at your income level. For many expats, this is when the Netherlands comparison against other countries becomes more financially even — the ruling advantage is gone, and you are paying the same taxes as your Dutch colleagues.

What the 30% Ruling Actually Means for Your Take-Home Pay

The headline “30% tax-free” is sometimes misunderstood. Here is what it means precisely:

Your employer can designate 30% of your gross salary as an untaxed expense allowance (onbelaste vergoeding) — notionally to compensate for the “extraterritorial costs” of living and working in a foreign country. This 30% is paid to you but does not count as taxable income.

Example calculation (2026 rates, approximate):

The ruling saves approximately €10,000/year on an €80,000 salary, in every year of the ruling. The saving scales with salary up to the point where the higher marginal rate (49.5%) kicks in — above approximately €75,000, each additional euro of exempt income saves 49.5 cents in tax — and stops scaling entirely above a salary of €262,000, where the allowance is capped at €78,600.

Box 3 partial non-resident status — abolished: ruling holders used to be able to elect partial non-resident status for Box 3, which excluded foreign savings and investments and left only Dutch real estate and Dutch participations in scope. That option ended on 1 January 2025 and cannot be elected from the 2025 tax return onwards. Only expats who were already using the ruling before 2024 can still claim it, and only up to and including their 2026 tax return.

When the 30% Ruling Does Not Cover You

Several situations result in 30% ruling ineligibility or loss:

Changing employers: the ruling is linked to your employment with a specific employer, not to you personally. If you change jobs, the gap between them must not exceed 3 months, and your new employer must submit the transfer application to the Belastingdienst within 4 months of your new start date. Miss those windows and the ruling cannot be applied retroactively to the new employment.

Going freelance (ZZP): The 30% ruling is not available for self-employed persons. If you leave employment for self-employment, the ruling ends. Some expats structure their transition carefully to maximise time under the ruling before switching.

Salary below the norm: the salary norm (€48,013 of taxable salary in 2026, €36,497 for under-30s with a qualifying master’s degree, no norm for researchers at designated institutions) must be met each year. If your salary drops below it — reduced hours, unpaid leave, a move to part-time — the ruling lapses, and a ruling lost for insufficient salary cannot be reinstated.

Living within 150km of the Dutch border before employment: If you were living within 150km of the Dutch border in the 16 months before your Dutch employment began, you typically do not qualify. This catches some expats who lived in Belgium or western Germany before moving to the Netherlands.

For the full 30% ruling eligibility check and application process, see our 30% ruling guide. And if you are in the final year of your ruling and preparing for the transition to full Dutch taxation, use the salary checker tool to understand what your take-home pay will look like post-ruling, and discuss with your employer whether a salary adjustment is appropriate to partially offset the change. Some employers with established expat compensation policies build this into their standard practice; many do not — it is worth raising the conversation explicitly rather than hoping it will be addressed proactively. The 30% ruling expiry is a known event with a predictable date, which means there is no excuse for either you or your employer to be surprised by it when it arrives.