30 Percent Ruling in the Netherlands

The 30% ruling (or Expat Scheme) is a Dutch tax facility that allows employers to provide a portion of the salary of qualifying incoming employees tax-free to help cover the extra costs of living in the Netherlands.

The ruling is meant to attract internationals with a specific expertise to work in the Netherlands. If you’re moving to the Netherlands for work, you may face higher living expenses than in your home country. To help offset these so-called “extraterritorial costs”, the Expat Scheme enables your employer in the Netherlands to grant a tax-free allowance.

Instead of reimbursing specific expenses, your employer may opt to pay to 30% of your salary, including bonuses or other benefits, tax-free. However, this is not mandatory, and the percentage may be lower.

To benefit from the 30% ruling as an expat or highly skilled migrant, you must meet certain eligibility criteria and apply with approval from the Dutch Tax Authorities.

To be eligible for the 30% ruling, you need to meet all the conditions which we have outlined below.

The following conditions apply to make use of the 30% ruling in the Netherlands:

To qualify as an incoming employee, you must prove that you were living more than 150 kilometers outside of the Dutch border for more than 16 months in the 24 months prior to  your first working day in the Netherlands.

If you want to make use of the 30% ruling, you must have a 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 your taxable annual salary is more than € 46,660 (€ 46,107 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 (€ 35,048 in 2024) excluding tax-free allowance.

In case of conducting scientific research at a designated research facility or being a doctor training to become a specialist, then you can always make use of the Expat Scheme. The amount of salary is in that case not important.

If approved for the Expat Facility, the tax break is granted for a maximum of 5 years, though this period may be shorter if you have previously worked or resided in the Netherlands.

The duration will not be reduced in the following situations:

Daisy, a Java developer, is 31 years old and has agreed with her employer on an monthly salary of € 5,700 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.

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 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.

You can provide the required information by sending these documents to expatdesk@allaboutexpats.nl.

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.

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.

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) as long as the employee meets the conditions of the scheme with the new employer.

However, the condition is that the employment contract with the new employer is concluded within 3 months after termination of the work with the previous employer. The new employer must submit a new application for the Expat facility before this can be applied.

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

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