Quick answer: the 30% ruling allows a tax-free allowance of 30% of salary for employees recruited from more than 150 km outside the Dutch border, for up to 60 months, provided the salary exceeds the annually indexed threshold and the Dutch tax authority has issued a ruling. From 1 January 2027 the percentage drops to 27% and the salary threshold rises — employees who start under the ruling in 2026 keep more favourable terms.

How the ruling works

Normally, an employer can only reimburse extraterritorial costs (double housing, home-country travel, Dutch lessons) tax-free against actual receipts. The 30% ruling replaces that with a flat facility: 30% of the total remuneration may be paid out untaxed, with zero receipts required. On a €100,000 gross package, €30,000 is tax-free and payroll tax runs only on €70,000 — a net advantage that typically lands between €10,000 and €15,000 per year.

The requirements in 2026

  • Recruited from abroad. In 16 of the 24 months before the first working day, the employee lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border.
  • Specific expertise, defined by a salary threshold: taxable salary above €48,013 in 2026. Employees under 30 with a recognised master’s degree face a reduced norm of €36,497; qualifying scientific researchers are exempt from the salary norm altogether.
  • Employment with a Dutch withholding agent. The ruling runs through payroll. Freelancers and sole traders therefore fall outside it; the route for entrepreneurs is a Dutch BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) with the founder on its payroll.
  • A ruling from the Belastingdienst, applied for jointly by employer and employee. Filing within four months of the first working day gives retroactive effect to day one.
  • Maximum duration of 60 months, reduced by earlier periods of Dutch work or residence.

The cap and the 2027 change

Since 2024 the base for the ruling is capped at the WNT norm (the Dutch public-sector pay ceiling, €262,000 in 2026), so the facility phases out on very high salaries. More important for planning: per 1 January 2027 the tax-free percentage falls from 30% to 27% and the salary threshold increases substantially. The previously announced 30-20-10 step-down was reversed — this single reduction is what remains. Employees already using the ruling before 2024 keep grandfathered terms.

The practical takeaway: qualifying hires who start in 2026 begin their 60 months under the current, more generous parameters. For founders planning to relocate themselves or key staff to the Netherlands, that makes 2026 the better entry year.

The 30% ruling for founder-directors of their own BV

The 30% ruling is an employment facility — and that is exactly why it is open to founder-directors. A DGA is formally an employee on the payroll of his own BV, and Dutch tax practice and case law confirm the ruling also applies to directors employed by their own company. The ruling sets zero conditions on the relationship between employee and shareholder.

The order of steps is decisive. The law requires an employee recruited from abroad: incorporate the BV and sign the employment agreement while you still live outside the Netherlands (more than 150 km from the border), and relocate afterwards. Moving first and incorporating later means being hired from within the Netherlands, which falls outside the definition of an incoming employee. The salary threshold (€48,013) and the Dutch minimum director salary (€58,000 in 2026) then apply side by side — the €58,000 DGA salary automatically satisfies the threshold. For internationals starting a Dutch company, combining BV incorporation with the 30% ruling is one of the most valuable moves available.

The alternative: reimbursing actual extraterritorial costs

Employer and employee may choose annually between the 30% flat facility and tax-free reimbursement of actual extraterritorial costs. At lower salaries or for short stays the actual-cost route can win; at higher salaries the flat facility virtually always does.

Box 3 planning: partial non-resident status has ended

The partial non-resident taxpayer status — which kept foreign investment income of 30%-ruling holders outside Dutch box 2 and box 3 — was abolished per 2025, with transitional relief running through 2026 for existing cases. New arrivals should plan foreign assets within the regular box 3 rules from day one (2026: tax-free allowance of €59,357 per person, rate 36%).

Approaching the end of your term? When your 30% ruling ends covers what changes in your payslip and in box 3 — and the moves worth making in the final year.

What comes after this

Two pages sit directly alongside this one: Employer Costs in the Netherlands and The General Meeting (AVA) of a BV.