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30% ruling, box 1 and box 3 – what newcomers pay in Dutch tax in 2026 and what changes in 2027

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

From your first day as a resident you pay Dutch income tax in three brackets, and if you were recruited from abroad the 30% ruling can make a slice of your salary tax-free. Here are the 2026 figures, the 27 per cent cut coming in 2027, the M form for your first return, and the customs rules for belongings and pets.

Woman using a calculator with papers and a laptop at a kitchen table
Photo: fizkes/Adobe Stock

If you move to the Netherlands in 2026, three tax changes shape your first years. The 30% ruling – the expat scheme that lets your employer pay part of your salary tax-free – keeps its 30 per cent in 2026 but falls to 27 per cent from 1 January 2027. Since 1 January 2026 its allowance is capped for everyone at a salary of €262,000. And the option for expats to be taxed as partial non-residents ended on 1 January 2025. Income tax is national, run by the Belastingdienst (the Tax Administration).

From the day you move you are a resident taxpayer: you pay Dutch income tax and normally file a return every year. Income from abroad is not automatically taxed here – tax treaties decide. If you work here you are usually also covered by national insurance – AOW (state pension), Anw (surviving dependants) and Wlz (long-term care) – collected in one amount together with income tax.

Box 1 in 2026: the three brackets and the credits

Box 1 covers income from work and your home. For people below state pension age the 2026 rates are:

Taxable income 2026RateWhat is in it
Up to €38,88335.75%8.10% income tax plus 27.65% national insurance
€38,883 to €78,42637.56%Income tax only
Above €78,42649.50%Income tax only; deductions such as mortgage interest are relieved at a lower rate above this line

Source: the Belastingdienst, read 24 September 2026.

National insurance – 17.90 per cent AOW, 0.10 per cent Anw and 9.65 per cent Wlz – is levied only on income up to €38,883, which is why the first bracket looks so steep. Until 2024 there were just two brackets.

What you actually pay depends on the credits. The algemene heffingskorting (general tax credit) is at most €3,115 for incomes up to €29,736, shrinks by 6.398 per cent of every euro above that and is gone at €78,426. The arbeidskorting (employed person's credit) peaks at €5,685 at an employment income of €45,592 and runs out at €132,920. Take Anna, recruited to Utrecht on €80,000: the Belastingdienst's own 2026 example puts her box 1 tax at €29,531 before credits.

Box 3: how savings and investments are taxed

Box 3 taxes what you own, not what it earns. In 2026 the first €59,357 per person (€118,714 for tax partners) is tax-free. Above that the Belastingdienst assumes a notional return – 1.28 per cent on bank balances, 6.00 per cent on investments and other assets, 2.70 per cent on debts – and taxes it at 36 per cent. Debts count only above €3,800 per person; green investments are exempt up to €26,715.

If your real return was lower than the notional one, you can report the actual return under the rebuttal scheme, but then no tax-free allowance applies. New box 3 legislation is expected only from 1 January 2028.

What is the 30% ruling and how does it change in 2027?

The 30% ruling – officially the expatregeling (expat scheme) – lets your employer pay up to 30 per cent of your salary, allowance included, free of tax. You qualify if you were recruited from abroad, lived far enough from the Dutch border, and have 'specific expertise', which in 2026 simply means a taxable salary above €48,013 – or €36,497 if you are under 30 with a master's degree. Scientific researchers at designated institutions and doctors in specialist training need no minimum salary. Alongside the ruling, your employer may reimburse removal costs, a familiarisation trip and international school fees tax-free.

The 30% ruling in 2026Figure
Salary threshold, excluding the allowance€48,013; €36,497 under 30 with a master's degree
Maximum tax-free allowance€78,600, reached at a salary of €262,000
Maximum duration5 years, minus earlier periods of work or residence in the Netherlands in the past 25 years
Distance ruleMore than 150 km from the border for more than 16 of the 24 months before you start
ApplicationWith your employer, within 4 months of your first working day to count from day one; decision within 8 weeks

Source: the Belastingdienst and Rijksoverheid, read 24 September 2026.

The cut to 27 per cent comes with transition rules. Rulings applied by 31 December 2023 keep 30 per cent and the current salary norm for the whole term; those started in 2024 move to 27 per cent from 2027 but keep the current norm; those started on or after 1 January 2025 get 27 per cent and the new, higher norm from 2027. Official pages still give different figures for that 2027 threshold, so treat it as indexed and not final. Since 1 January 2026 the €262,000 cap applies to everyone. And partial foreign tax liability – being treated as a non-resident for box 2 and box 3 – can no longer be chosen from tax year 2025, with a run-out until the 2026 return for people who used the ruling before 2024.

The tax return: the M form, deadlines and DigiD

For the year you arrive you file a migration return, the M form, online in Mijn Belastingdienst or on paper, declaring worldwide income and assets. You need a DigiD (your digital ID), or a European eIDAS login, to file online. You usually hear within 3 months, and the final assessment for 2025 must be imposed by 31 December 2028. Give the Belastingdienst a bank account number, preferably Dutch, on the form 'Opgaaf rekeningnummer particulieren' for refunds.

DeadlineWhat
Before 1 AprilFile by then and you get a response before 1 July
Before 1 MayYour return must have arrived if you were invited to file
Up to 5 years after the tax yearYou can still file without an invitation
Monday to Thursday 8:00–20:00, Friday 8:00–17:00BelastingTelefoon 0800 0543 (free), or +31 555 385 385 from abroad

Source: the Belastingdienst, read 24 September 2026.

Municipal taxes come separately. Each gemeente (municipality) sets its own afvalstoffenheffing (waste charge): Amsterdam currently charges €352 a year for a one-person household and €469 for two or more people, based on who is registered at the address on 1 January.

Customs: bringing your belongings, your car and your pets

Moving from another EU country, you make no customs declaration – goods move freely – and you can ask for an exemption from bpm (car and motorcycle tax) for a car you bring. From outside the EU, removal goods enter duty-free if you lived at least 12 consecutive months outside the EU, owned and used the goods for at least 6 months, import them within 12 months of settling and do not lend, rent out or transfer them for 12 months after import. Alcohol, tobacco and commercial vehicles get no exemption. A removal company files the declaration through the Douane (Customs) system – you cannot – with your signed inventory and proof that you have settled, ideally your municipal registration.

PetRequirement
Dog, cat or ferret from an EU countryMicrochip, EU pet passport, rabies jab at 12 weeks or older and at least 21 days before travel – so no animal under 15 weeks
Dog or cat from a high-risk rabies countryAlso a blood test (at least 0.5 IU/ml) 30 days after vaccination, then a 90-day wait; health certificate valid 10 days; report to Customs on arrival
A dog, if you stay more than 3 monthsRegistered by a vet in the Dutch dog database within 2 weeks

Source: Douane Nederland, the NVWA and Rijksoverheid, read 24 September 2026.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Send the joint 30% ruling application to Belastingdienst/Kennis- en Expertisecentrum Buitenland, Postbus 2865, 6401 DJ HeerlenWithin 4 months of your first working day
2Apply for DigiD once you are in the BRP (Basisregistratie Personen – the population register; part 3)In your first weeks
3Give the Belastingdienst your bank account numberBefore your first refund
4File the M form for the year you arrivedBefore 1 May the following year if invited
5Book a removal company for the customs declaration and check pet vaccination datesBefore you ship

Source: the Belastingdienst and Douane Nederland, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.