The minimum salary for a director who owns his Dutch BV is €58,000 gross in 2026. That is about €3,360 net per month, after tax, the tax credits and the health care contribution. A lower salary is allowed while a new BV is still unable to pay the full amount, for up to three years. Ongoing losses that put the BV at risk can also be a reason. A prior consultation with the tax office gives certainty in advance. You can also borrow up to €500,000 from your own BV. The lower salary is what saves tax. At €36,000 compared with €58,000, you keep about €7,100 a year more. After a later dividend, about €2,800 of that remains. The loan gives you access to money, but your tax stays the same. Calculate it with your own figures.
What the rule says
An owner who works in his own BV pays himself the salary that an employee in the same job would earn. In law, this is called the customary salary (gebruikelijk loon). The floor in 2026 is €58,000 gross per year. If people in comparable jobs clearly earn more, the norm is higher.
The three tests
Your salary is the highest of three amounts. Amount (1) is the €58,000 floor. Amount (2) is the salary in the most comparable job. Amount (3) is the salary of the best-paid employee in your group. For most owners of a small or medium-sized company, the €58,000 floor applies.
You can calculate salary, dividends and retained profit together in the Wealth Planner 2027, with the 2026 rates next to the 2027 rates.
What you keep net from €58,000
Dutch wage tax has brackets. In 2026 the rate is 35.75% up to €38,883 and 37.56% up to €78,426. A €58,000 salary is entirely within those two brackets. The tax is then reduced by two tax credits: the general tax credit and the labour tax credit.
| Part | 2026 figures | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Tax, bracket 1 | 35.75% up to €38,883 | €13,901 |
| Tax, bracket 2 | 37.56% on €38,883 to €58,000 | €7,180 |
| General tax credit | €3,115 at most, less above €29,736 | − €1,307 |
| Labour tax credit | €5,685 at most, less above €45,592 | − €4,877 |
| Tax to pay | about €14,900 | |
| Net before the health care contribution | about €43,100, or €3,590 per month |
The health care contribution (Zvw) is separate. It is 4.85%, about €2,813 per year. Your BV withholds it from your salary every month. After that contribution you keep about €3,360 per month. You can find the full calculation, bracket by bracket, on DGA salary gross to net 2026.
Why you keep the salary at the floor
Salary is taxed at up to 49.5%. On profit kept in the BV, the BV first pays corporate tax: 19% on the first €200,000 and 25.8% above that. When the profit is paid out as dividend, you pay 24.5% in box 2 on the first €68,843 per person and 31% above that. Together that is less than the top rate on salary. The usual approach is therefore to keep the salary at the floor and take the rest through profit and dividend.
When a lower salary is allowed
Growth, investing and hiring staff are excluded as reasons for a lower salary. A lower salary is allowed if a new BV is still unable to pay the customary salary, for example because of start-up losses. In the start-up phase, this applies for at most three years. A prior consultation with the tax office gives you certainty. If you want that certainty, ask before the year starts. Just below €58,000, every €10,000 less salary saves about €5,000 of income tax. The saving is higher than the 37.56% rate alone, because both tax credits go up when your salary goes down. For your private costs, you may borrow up to €500,000 from your own BV, with a loan agreement and a normal interest rate. The lower salary is what saves tax. At €36,000 compared with €58,000, you keep about €7,100 a year more. After a later dividend, about €2,800 of that remains. The loan gives you access to money, but your tax stays the same. We can write the request for a prior consultation as part of the setup.
Calculate your own situation, at home or abroad, with the director salary planner. In the customary salary archive you can see how the norm changed over the years. You can set up the structure from where you live. See the BV incorporation page for the full process.
Living abroad while you own a Dutch BV
The salary rule applies when you work for the BV and the Netherlands may tax your salary. Most Dutch tax treaties let the Netherlands tax the pay of a director of a Dutch BV, even when the work is done abroad. Some treaties, such as those with the United States and the United Kingdom, only allow this for work done in the Netherlands. Where the Netherlands may tax, the salary rule and Dutch payroll usually apply from year one. Your own country then gives relief for the Dutch tax. If you later work from the Netherlands, the Dutch salary applies from that moment. The tax office looks at where the work is done and where the decisions are taken. Record this in writing. Where possible, have one director who works in one country.
Once the salary is set, you run the payroll every month, with payslips, a payroll tax return and year-end forms. We can take care of this for you. See payroll and administration for a Dutch BV.
Looking ahead to 2027
The salary norm for 2027 is published with the December payroll figures. Until then, use €58,000. The Tax Plan 2027 of 15 September 2026 keeps the customary salary rules the same. The cabinet proposes to lower the €500,000 limit for loans from your own BV to €420,000 in 2027, and further each year to €100,000 in 2031. This is in a letter to parliament of 29 September 2026 and is still only a proposal. This autumn is a good time to check your 2027 salary and to list your loans. If a lower salary is allowed, a prior consultation with the tax office gives you certainty before the year starts. You can find the timeline on DGA salary 2027. All 2027 measures and their status are on the Dutch Tax Plan 2027.