Status: Proposed on Budget Day. This measure is part of the 2027 Tax Plan the cabinet submitted on 15 September 2026. It is still a proposal. Parliament may change the proposal. See Budget Day 2026 and the Dutch 2027 Tax Plan for all measures in one table.
How the scheme works
Everything an employer gives an employee counts as salary, except where the work costs scheme makes an exception. Some items are fully tax-free under a targeted exemption, for example a commuting allowance of €0.25 per kilometre, a laptop or phone needed for the job, training and a home-office allowance. Things used at the workplace, such as coffee and a desk, are valued at nil. Everything else can go into the free allowance, a percentage of total payroll that the employer may spend tax-free on staff, and above that allowance the employer pays a final levy of 80%.
What changes in 2027
The own-product discount was a targeted exemption for products from the employer or a related company, capped at 20% of the market value and €500 per employee a year. Once the plan ends that exemption, the employer either treats staff discount as salary or places it in the free allowance. In 2027 the free allowance is 2.16% of the first €400,000 of payroll and 1.18% above that, which comes to €8,640 at a payroll of €400,000. For a shop with twenty staff who each use the full €500 discount, that €10,000 fills the free allowance at once and uses up the room for the Christmas gifts and the team outing.
| Payroll | Free allowance 2026 (2.00%) | Free allowance 2027 (2.16%) |
|---|---|---|
| €100,000 | €2,000 | €2,160 |
| €400,000 | €8,000 | €8,640 |
| €1,000,000 | €15,080 | €15,720 |
A Dutch BV with staff or a paid director files a payroll tax return every month, and we can take over the payslips, those returns and the yearly forms. See payroll and administration for a Dutch BV.
What to do in 2026
Give the 2026 discount before 31 December, up to €500 per employee, and record it in payroll as a targeted exemption. Then decide what you want to keep giving in 2027 and check whether the free allowance covers it. A director-shareholder alone on the payroll at €58,000 has a free allowance of €1,253 in 2027. Employee benefits under the Dutch work costs scheme lists everything the scheme covers, and the mileage allowance of €0.25 covers the cost of commuting.