The 30 percent ruling, officially the expatregeling (expat scheme), lets a Dutch employer pay an employee recruited from abroad up to 30 percent of the designated wage tax-free, for at most five years. In 2026 the employee must earn more than EUR 48,013 (EUR 36,497 under 30 with a master's). From 1 January 2027 the maximum is 27 percent.
This guide is for an employee recruited from abroad weighing a Dutch offer, the employer's HR or payroll lead, and a founder moving here to run a Dutch company. The rule most people remember has been reversed: the 2024 staircase gave way to a flat 30 percent by statute, and the next change is already law. Founders who arrive on a residence permit, for instance through our DAFT visa service, often ask whether the scheme can apply to them; the founder section below answers as far as the law allows.
What is the 30 percent ruling (the expat scheme)?
The official name is the expatregeling, the expat scheme; "30 percent ruling" is the market's name, and business.gov.nl's page on the expat scheme uses both. It lets an employer reimburse extraterritorial costs (extraterritoriale kosten, ETK, art. 31a(2)(e)) without proof: under art. 31a(8) of the Wet op de loonbelasting 1964 (Wage Tax Act), up to 30 percent of the designated wage counts as such a reimbursement, for at most five years. Technically it is a gerichte vrijstelling (targeted exemption) within the work-related costs scheme.
The Belastingdienst grants it by a decision (beschikking) on a joint request of employee and employer (art. 10ea(1) and 10ei(1) of the implementing decree). It is one national scheme, with no Amsterdam or Holland variant, and not an advance tax ruling for a company.
It is also not a residence permit. In business.gov.nl's words: "The expat scheme is a tax benefit. The highly skilled migrant scheme is a residence permit from the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND)." Permits are a separate track, explained in our guide to the eu blue card netherlands.
Is it still 30 percent? The rules from 2024 to 2027
Yes. In 2026 the maximum is a flat 30 percent, and it falls to 27 percent on 1 January 2027. The cut many readers remember was real but short-lived. An amendment adopted during the Belastingplan 2024 introduced a staircase of 20 months at 30 percent, 20 months at 20 percent and 20 months at 10 percent (Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41).
The next tax plan reversed it. Stb. 2024, 434, the Belastingplan 2025 (Act of 18 December 2024), replaced the staircase in art. 31a(8) by a flat maximum of 30 percent of the designated wage (Art. VIII, E, 2), in force from 1 January 2025 (Art. LXV(1)). The same act already holds the next step: Art. X, D, 2 replaces 30 percent by 27 percent in art. 31a(8) and (9) from 1 January 2027. Where an older text still shows the staircase, the statute governs.
The 30 percent ruling by year, 2024 to 2027. Sources: Stb. 2024, 434; Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41; the implementing decree; Belastingdienst, checked on 3 October 2026.
| Year | Maximum tax-free allowance | Salary norm, general | Salary norm, under 30 with an academic master's | Enacting text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The staircase: 20 months at 30, 20 at 20, 20 at 10 percent | more than EUR 46,107 | more than EUR 35,048 | Belastingplan 2024 amendment (Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41) |
| 2025 | Flat, at most 30 percent of the designated wage | more than EUR 46,660 | more than EUR 35,468 | Stb. 2024, 434, Art. VIII, E, 2, in force 1 January 2025 (Art. LXV(1)) |
| 2026 | Flat, at most 30 percent | more than EUR 48,013 | more than EUR 36,497 | art. 31a(8) Wet LB 1964; art. 10eb(1) and (2) of the implementing decree |
| 2027 | At most 27 percent | announced increase to EUR 50,436 at 2024 prices, by decree, indexed | announced increase to EUR 38,338 at 2024 prices | Stb. 2024, 434, Art. X, D, 2; the norms by a decree not yet in the consolidated text |
Decisions first applied before 1 January 2024: 30 percent for the whole term
The staircase: 20 months at 30, 20 at 20, 20 at 10 percent (Belastingplan 2024 amendment). Salary norm more than EUR 46,107.
A flat maximum of 30 percent (Stb. 2024, 434, Art. VIII, E, 2). Salary norm more than EUR 46,660.
A flat maximum of 30 percent, unchanged. Salary norm more than EUR 48,013.
At most 27 percent (Stb. 2024, 434, Art. X, D, 2). Salary norm announced: EUR 50,436 at 2024 prices.
Which rules apply to you? The three transitional groups
The year your decision was first applied decides which version applies. Three groups follow from Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41 and Stb. 2024, 434.
Which version of the scheme applies, by the first year the decision was applied. Sources: Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41; Stb. 2024, 434; business.gov.nl, checked on 3 October 2026.
| First year the decision was applied | Maximum allowance | Salary norm |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1 January 2024 | 30 percent for the whole term of the decision | the old norms, indexed, for the whole term |
| 2024 | flat 30 percent in 2025 and 2026; 27 percent from 1 January 2027 | from 2027 unsettled: see below |
| 2025 or later | 30 percent in 2025 and 2026; 27 percent from 1 January 2027 | the higher norm from 2027, as announced |
business.gov.nl confirms that the first group keeps the old rules for the full five years. For the 2024 group the salary norm from 2027 is not settled. The parliamentary amendment proposed that 2024 starters keep the old indexed norms, while business.gov.nl says the 2027 increase applies to employees who started using the expat scheme on or after 1 January 2024. The enacted rule sits in an implementing decree not yet in the consolidated text.
One more transitional point changed in 2026. For employees who started before 1 January 2023, the cap linked to the maximum remuneration under the Wet normering topinkomens (WNT) did not apply from 1 January 2024, but in business.gov.nl's words "this limit does apply since 1 January 2026."
Who qualifies for the 30 percent ruling?
The conditions of the expat scheme and where each one is written. Sources: the implementing decree, checked on 3 October 2026; business.gov.nl and the Belastingdienst.
| Condition | Rule (2026) | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| Employment | An employee of a Dutch withholding agent, recruited from another country by it or posted to it (ingekomen werknemer, incoming employee) | art. 10e(2)(b) of the decree; business.gov.nl, criterion 4 |
| Specific expertise | Scarce or absent on the Dutch labour market; met by the salary norm | art. 10e(2)(b)(1), 10eb(1) |
| Salary norm | Taxable annual wage, excluding the allowance, above EUR 48,013 | art. 10eb(1) |
| Under 30 with an academic master's | Lower norm, above EUR 36,497, up to and including the month of the 30th birthday | art. 10eb(2); Belastingdienst |
| No salary norm | Scientific research at a designated research institution, or a doctor training as a specialist | art. 10eb(3) |
| Scarcity factors | Education level, relevant experience, and the pay level of the job in the Netherlands against the country of origin | art. 10eb(4) |
| Distance | Lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than two thirds of the 24 months before the first working day | art. 10e(2)(b)(2) |
| PhD exception | A doctor employed within one year of the degree: time in the Netherlands or within 150 km for the degree, and after it, is disregarded | art. 10e(3) |
| Return exception | No 150 km test where an earlier Dutch employment began at most five years before and the test was met then | art. 10e(4) |
Recruited from abroad by a Dutch employer
The scheme is for an employee of a Dutch withholding agent (inhoudingsplichtige) who was recruited from another country by that employer, or posted to it (art. 10e(2)(b) of the Uitvoeringsbesluit loonbelasting 1965, the implementing decree). business.gov.nl: "recruited from abroad or transferred within a multinational company". Art. 31a(9) mirrors the rule for employees posted abroad.
Specific expertise, shown by the salary norm
The expertise must be scarce or absent on the Dutch labour market (art. 10e(2)(b)(1)), and the salary norm proves it (art. 10eb(1)). The decree's scarcity factors are education level, relevant experience, and the job's Dutch pay level against the country of origin (art. 10eb(4)).
The 150 km rule and its two exceptions
For more than two thirds of the 24 months before the first working day, the employee must have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border (art. 10e(2)(b)(2)). business.gov.nl and the Belastingdienst express this as more than 16 of the 24 months. The Belastingdienst measures the distance as the crow flies and names Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of Germany, France and the United Kingdom as too close; the decree gives only the distance.
Two exceptions apply: a doctor employed within one year of the degree disregards the time in the Netherlands, or within 150 km, for the degree and after it (art. 10e(3)); and an employee whose earlier Dutch employment began at most five years before, and who met the test then, is not retested (art. 10e(4)).
Is a master's degree required?
No. It only lowers the salary norm for an employee under 30 with an academic master's, Dutch or an equivalent foreign degree (art. 10eb(1) and (2)).
What is the minimum salary for the 30 percent ruling in 2026?
- More than EUR 48,013 taxable annual wage, excluding the allowance, in 2026 (art. 10eb(1) of the decree).
- More than EUR 36,497 for an employee under 30 with an academic master's, up to and including the month of the 30th birthday (art. 10eb(2)).
- No salary norm for scientific research at a designated research institution, or for a doctor training as a specialist (art. 10eb(3)).
- Both norms are replaced each 1 January by ministerial regulation, using the tabelcorrectiefactor (indexation factor) of art. 10.2 Wet IB 2001 (art. 10eb(5)).
The norm is tested on the wage excluding the allowance, which limits the allowance near the norm (next section). Older figures still circulate: according to the Belastingdienst's page for employees, the norms were EUR 46,660 and EUR 35,468 in 2025, and EUR 46,107 and EUR 35,048 in 2024. Neither pair is the 2026 rule.
How much of your salary can be tax-free?
The Belastingdienst describes the mechanics on its page Inhoud van de expatregeling (content of the expat scheme). Without further evidence, the employer may pay up to 30 percent of the wage including the allowance tax-free, which is the same as 30/70 of the wage excluding it.
There is a ceiling. Art. 31a(8) caps the allowance at 30 percent of the WNT maximum remuneration, pro rata for part of a year, with school fees on top. In euros, the Belastingdienst puts the maximum tax-free allowance for 2026 at EUR 78,600, reached at a salary of EUR 262,000 or more with a full year in the scheme.
The 30 percent is a maximum, not an entitlement: "Your employer is not obliged to pay 30% of your salary to you untaxed." Where the employee is insured in the Netherlands, the scheme also applies to employee-insurance contributions on the exempt part.
Three worked examples for 2026, as the Belastingdienst gives them. Source: Belastingdienst, Inhoud van de expatregeling, checked on 29 September 2026.
| Starting point | Rule applied | Maximum tax-free allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Wage including the allowance EUR 70,000 | 30 percent of the wage including the allowance | EUR 21,000 |
| Wage excluding the allowance EUR 50,000 | 30/70 of the wage excluding the allowance | EUR 21,428 |
| Wage including the allowance EUR 50,000 | the wage excluding the allowance must stay above EUR 48,013 | EUR 1,986 |
Near the norm, the third row shows how little room is left.
Putting the allowance into a Dutch payroll? We prepare the joint request with you and run the payroll that applies it.
What else stays tax-free, and what no longer counts from 2026?
Beside the flat allowance, these can still be reimbursed tax-free:
- Moving costs and temporary storage of belongings.
- A familiarisation visit before the move.
- International school fees, for a school with a curriculum of a foreign system, mainly attended by children of expatriate workers (art. 10e(8) of the decree).
Each year the employer makes a choice for the first wage period of the calendar year: the flat rule, or reimbursing the actual ETK. The choice binds for that year. Where the request is filed in the first four months of employment, the first choice is made for the period after those four months (art. 31a(17) and (18) Wet LB 1964). The two methods may not be combined.
From 1 January 2026, living costs and private call costs no longer count as ETK for the period of work or stay in the Netherlands (art. 31a(2)(e)). The explanatory memorandum to the Belastingplan 2026, Kamerstuk 36812 nr. 3, section 5.8, explains the exclusion.
Where actual costs are reimbursed, the Belastingdienst's examples of ETK are fees for residence permits, visas and driving-licence conversion, medical examinations, double housing, first housing costs above 18 percent of wages, storage, home-leave travel, the extra cost of a tax return, language training and A1 certificate costs. Not ETK: expatriate allowances and bonuses, capital losses, buying and selling a house, and compensation for higher tax rates.
How do you apply for the 30 percent ruling?
Check the conditions
Employee and employer test the conditions above, and any earlier Dutch periods that will shorten the term, before the contract is signed. No official time applies.
Agree the allowance in writing
Near the norm, the wage excluding the allowance must stay above EUR 48,013. No official time applies.
File the joint request
Fill in the Belastingdienst PDF form "Application Income tax and national insurance contributions Expat Scheme (30% facility) 2026" on screen, print it, and have employee and employer both sign it (art. 10ea(1)). The employer's side of the request runs alongside setting up payroll in the Netherlands.
Post it within four months
Send the form to the Belastingdienst office in Heerlen within four months of the first working day (art. 10ei(2)), with supporting documents such as employment contracts and proof of qualifications; the form states the full list.
The inspector decides
The outcome comes within 8 weeks, and the decision is open to objection (art. 10ei(1)).
Apply it in payroll
The employer applies the allowance and, each January, chooses the flat rule or actual ETK for the first wage period (art. 31a(17) and (18)).
Retest every year, and refile on a job change
The employer checks the wage against the indexed norm each year; a new employer files a new joint request.
The form is on the Belastingdienst's application page for the 30% facility, which ends: "Please return the completed and signed form to:", followed by the Heerlen address. No state fee for the request is stated on any official page we read, and no notary, KVK, DNB, AFM or IND step is part of the procedure. No official time is published beyond the four months and the 8 weeks.
- First working dayThe employeeOpens the four-month window (art. 10ei(2))
- Joint request signedEmployee and employer, both signNo official time
- Posted to HeerlenTo the BelastingdienstWithin four months of the first working day (art. 10ei(2))
- The inspector decidesThe BelastingdienstWithin 8 weeks; open to objection (art. 10ei(1))
- Filed after four monthsThe late-filing branchApplies from the first day of the month after the request; the months in between come off the five years, rounded up (art. 10eg, 10eh)
- Every JanuaryThe employerChoice of method (art. 31a(17)) Salary retest against the indexed norm
What if the application is filed after four months?
Filed within four months of the start of employment, the decision works back to the first day (art. 10ei(2) of the decree). Filed later, the request is not refused for lateness, but it costs time. The decision then applies from the first day of the month after the request, and the months in between come off the five-year term (art. 10eg). Each reduction is rounded up to whole calendar months (art. 10eh). A few weeks' delay can therefore cost a full month or more of the five years.
How long does the ruling last, and how can it end early?
The term is at most five years from the first day of employment (art. 10ec(1) of the decree; art. 31a(8) Wet LB 1964). Several events end or shorten it sooner.
How the five-year term runs, and what ends or shortens it. Sources: the implementing decree, checked on 3 October 2026; Belastingdienst, checked on 29 September 2026.
| Event | Effect | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| Five years from the first day of employment | the term ends on the last day of the wage period after the one in which the employment ended | art. 10ec(1) of the decree; art. 31a(8) Wet LB 1964 |
| The employee no longer has scarce specific expertise | the term ends at that moment | art. 10ee |
| The wage falls below the indexed norm in a year | the scheme ends retroactively to 1 January of that year, with no way back | Belastingdienst |
| More than three months between two jobs | the ruling does not continue with the new employer | art. 10ed(1) |
| The request is filed after four months | the months in between come off the term, rounded up | art. 10eg, 10eh |
Earlier stays in the Netherlands shorten the term
Earlier employment or stay in the Netherlands within the 25 years before reduces the five years (art. 10ef). Three things are disregarded: up to 20 working days per calendar year, up to six weeks per year of private stay, and one single period of up to three consecutive months. Each reduction is rounded up to whole calendar months (art. 10eh).
The yearly salary retest
The salary test is not a one-off. According to the Belastingdienst's page Beschikking: geldigheid en toetsen voorwaarden (the decision: validity and testing the conditions), a wage below the indexed norm in any year ends the scheme retroactively to 1 January of that year. Earlier returns are corrected, and the scheme cannot be resumed afterwards. Parental and similar leave is neutralised in the test.
What happens to the ruling when you change jobs?
The ruling can move with the employee. It continues on a joint request with the new employer if the gap between the end of the old employment and the new contract is at most three months (art. 10ed(1) of the decree). The new employer must show again that the employee qualifies, and the request should be filed within four months of the new start for the decision to apply from the first day (art. 10ed(2)).
Two situations need no new decision. Within a connected group of withholding agents, the decision stays valid while the conditions are met. And when an employee moves to another employer through a transfer of undertaking, the acquiring employer does not need to apply for a new decision.
What changed in 2026, and what changes on 1 January 2027?
What changed for 2026:
- No rate change: a flat maximum of 30 percent.
- New salary norms: EUR 48,013, and EUR 36,497 under 30 with an academic master's.
- Living costs and private call costs no longer count as ETK (art. 31a(2)(e)).
- The WNT cap now applies to employees who started before 1 January 2023.
- The 2026 income tax return is the last in which pre-2024 users may opt for partial foreign tax liability.
- The maximum tax-free allowance is EUR 78,600.
From 1 January 2027 the maximum falls to 27 percent of the designated wage (Stb. 2024, 434, Art. X, D, 2). Higher salary norms are announced: EUR 50,436 and, under 30 with a master's, EUR 38,338, both at 2024 prices and set by decree. Who receives the higher norm in the 2024 group is unsettled, as the transitional section explains. These statements rest on the enacted act of December 2024; later tax plans may adjust them.
What happens to partial foreign tax liability (box 2 and box 3)?
Partial foreign tax liability was an option open to users of the scheme, and it is closing. The Belastingdienst states: "As of your tax return 2025, you can no longer opt for partial foreign tax liability." Employees who used the scheme before 2024 may still use it up to and including the 2026 return under transitional law. business.gov.nl confirms that since 1 January 2025 box 2 and box 3 income must be declared.
Can a founder employed by their own BV use the 30 percent ruling?
Founders moving to the Netherlands ask this most, and the honest answer is that it is open. The building blocks are clear; the conclusion is not.
What is settled for a founder employed by their own BV. Sources: the implementing decree and the Wage Tax Act, as in force in 2026.
| Point | Rule |
|---|---|
| Who applies | The employee and the withholding agent jointly; for a founder employed by their own BV, the BV is the withholding agent (art. 10ea(1) of the decree) |
| The statute's wording | Employees van buiten Nederland in dienstbetrekking worden genomen (taken into employment from outside the Netherlands) by a withholding agent (art. 31a(8) Wet LB 1964) |
| Customary salary, 2026 | At least the highest of: the most comparable employment, the highest-paid employee of the company or connected companies, and EUR 58,000 (art. 12a(1) Wet LB 1964) |
| The two floors | EUR 58,000 sits above the EUR 48,013 norm; the customary salary applies whether or not the scheme does |
No source we have read decides whether a founder who incorporates a BV and then employs themselves counts as "recruited from abroad" under art. 10e(2)(b) of the decree and art. 31a(8). We do not say that a founder qualifies, and we do not say that a founder is excluded. The answer depends on the facts of each case, which makes it a matter for individual advice rather than a general guide: start with the detailed tax advice page.
What is settled is the customary salary rule. A founder who works for a company in which they or their partner hold a substantial interest is deemed to earn at least the highest of three amounts, one of them EUR 58,000 in 2026, under art. 12a(1) of the 2026 version of the Wage Tax Act. That floor applies whether or not the expat scheme does. In this set-up the founder's BV is the employer and the withholding agent; for the company side, see what the articles of a Dutch BV have to state.
From our practice
Ilse Brouwer, Tax, VAT and licensing lead, ten years on Dutch files, coordinates payroll and 30 percent ruling applications. The first date she fixes in every file is the first working day: the four-month window runs from it, and a request filed after it costs months of the term rather than the ruling itself.
Reviewed by Priya Ramdin, Founder services and immigration lead, on 4 October 2026.
Sources
- Wet op de loonbelasting 1964, art. 31a(2)(e), (8), (9), (17) and (18), wetten.overheid.nl, checked on 3 October 2026
- Wet op de loonbelasting 1964, 2026 version, art. 12a(1) and 20a(1), wetten.overheid.nl, checked on 29 September 2026
- Uitvoeringsbesluit loonbelasting 1965, art. 10e to 10ei, wetten.overheid.nl, checked on 3 October 2026
- Stb. 2024, 434, Belastingplan 2025, Art. VIII, X and LXV, Staatsblad, checked on 3 October 2026
- Kamerstuk 36602 nr. 41, amendment to the Belastingplan 2025 bill, officielebekendmakingen.nl, checked on 29 September 2026
- Kamerstuk 36812 nr. 3, explanatory memorandum to the Belastingplan 2026, section 5.8, officielebekendmakingen.nl, checked on 3 October 2026
- business.gov.nl, The expat scheme (30 percent ruling) in the Netherlands, checked on 3 October 2026
- Belastingdienst, Coming to work in the Netherlands: 30 percent facility, checked on 3 October 2026
- Belastingdienst, Inhoud van de expatregeling, checked on 29 September 2026
- Belastingdienst, Beschikking: geldigheid en toetsen voorwaarden, checked on 29 September 2026
- Belastingdienst, Application income tax and national insurance contributions, 30% facility, checked on 3 October 2026
Related service
payroll in the Netherlands The employer's side of the scheme: the joint request, and the payroll that applies the allowance and runs the yearly retest.
DutchRegist: Highly Skilled Migrant in the Netherlands The residence permit that is often confused with the tax scheme: who sponsors it and what it requires.