The 30% ruling (or expat facility) is a Dutch tax break on earned salary for qualifying incoming employees. The ruling is meant to attract internationals with a specific expertise to work in the Netherlands.
To get the 30% ruling on your salary, as an expat or highly skilled migrant, you need to first confirm eligibility, submit an application, and lastly receive permission and approval from the Dutch Tax Authorities.
To be eligible for the 30% ruling, you need to meet specific criteria which we have outlined below.
30% Ruling: Conditions to Apply
The following conditions apply to make use of the 30% ruling in the Netherlands:
Incoming Employees
To qualify as an incoming employee, you must prove that you were living at least 150 kilometers outside of the Dutch border for more than 16 months in the last 24 months before your first working day in the Netherlands.
Expertise Requirements
If a highly skilled migrant wants to make use of the 30% ruling, they must have specific expertise. To demonstrate this specific expertise a minimum income standard applies. This income standard is indexed yearly.
For 2025, specific expertise is shown if the highly skilled migrant has a taxable annual salary of at least € 46.660,00 (€ 46.07,00 in 2024), excluding tax-free allowance.
Furthermore, qualifying incoming employees who have have obtained a Dutch academic master’s degree or obtained an equivalent title in another country, and are younger than 30 years of age, the minimum annual salary in 2025 is € 35.468,00 (€ 35.048,00 in 2024) excluding tax-free allowance.
How to Calculate
Below is an example of how the 30% ruling is calculated on your income using the minimum annual salary bracket for 2025.
Daisy, a Java developer, is 31 years old and has agreed with her employer on an monthly salary of €5.700,00 excluding 8% holiday allowance. This salary meets the minimum income standard applied by the IND for highly skilled migrants aged 30 or older.
The minimum salary requirement for the 30% facility is an annually taxable wage of € 46.660,00. This amounts monthly to € 3.888,34 including 8% holiday allowance. Without the holiday allowance the monthly minimum is € 3.600,31.
The difference between the agreed wage of € 5.700,00, excluding 8% holiday allowance, and the required monthly minimum of € 3.600,31 is €2.099,69. This is 36,84 % of the agreed wage, which is more than the 30% maximum allowable tax-free allowance.
Therefore, Daisy can receive €1.710,00 tax-free, excluding 8% holiday allowance. If you would like to have a custom calculation, feel free to contact us.
Net Wages
Under the Expat Facility, up to 30% of your taxable wage can be paid out as a tax-free allowance. However, it is important to note that a reduction in gross wage may impact your pension basis and eligibility for certain benefits or allowances, such as unemployment benefits and rent allowance.
Once the Expat Facility 30% ruling expires, your net income will decrease as the tax-free allowance is no longer applied.
If approved for the Expat Facility 30% ruling, the tax break is granted for a maximum of 5 years, though this period may be shorter if you have previously lived or worked in the Netherlands.
30 Percent Ruling: When to Apply
If the application is submitted within four months from the first day of employment, the Expat Facility 30% ruling will apply retroactively. If not, the 30% rule will apply from the first day of the following month on which the application was approved by the Tax Authorities.
Therefore, it is necessary that you contact and provide All About Expats and our partner Eastwing the required information for your application as soon as possible.
Please note that for the application a social security number is required. A social security number will be available to you after registering at the municipality.
Documents Needed
To show the Dutch Tax Authorities that you meet the definition of an incoming employee, All About Expats and our partner Eastwing need proof that you lived more than two-thirds 16 months of the last 24 months at a distance of more than 150 kilometeres from the Dutch border.
The below documents can be used as proof:
You can provide the required information by sending these documents to expatdesk@allaboutexpats.nl.
30 Percent Ruling: Additional Advantages
Deemed non-resident taxpayer
Expats who qualify as resident taxpayers of the Netherlands can choose to be taxed as a deemed non-resident taxpayer. As a deemed non-resident taxpayer, the expat does not need to report investment income to the Dutch tax authorities (except for Dutch-source income, such as Dutch real estate).
This choice is made on the Expat Facility application form but can be changed annually. Additionally, the expatriate can still deduct certain personal expenses (e.g., alimony payments, medical expenses).
Our partner Eastwing can advise you on this matter.
Driver’s license
Expats who are granted the Expat Facility 30% ruling can exchange their foreign driver’s license for a Dutch driver’s license. This is a major advantage for expats from non-EU countries (including EEA and Switzerland), as they can otherwise only use their foreign license for six months after registering in the Netherlands.
Switching Employers
Employees with the Expat facility 30% ruling can switch to a new employer and benefit from the 30% facility again (for the remaining period out of a total of 5 years).
However, the period between changing employment to another company may not exceed three months. The new employer must submit a new application for the Expat facility before this can be applied.
Learn More
Changes to the 30% ruling are constantly happening.
For more information on the 30% ruling Expat Facility, its application process, and eligibility criteria, please visit our partner Eastwing:
https://eastwing.nl or https://30percentruling.com
Be sure to add us on LinkedIn so you can stay up to date on news related to living in the Netherlands as an expat and highly skilled migrant.
