How it works
An employee who is recruited from more than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border, and who has specific expertise, can receive up to 30% of the salary as a tax-free allowance. In 2026 the salary norm is €48,013 (taxable salary after the allowance); for employees under 30 with a master’s degree it is €36,497. The ruling lasts at most 60 months.
From 1 January 2027 the tax-free share becomes 27% for employees who received the ruling from 2024. Employees who had the ruling before 1 January 2024 keep 30% for their full term. The allowance is calculated on at most the public-sector pay ceiling (€262,000 in 2026).
Employer and employee apply together within four months after the first working day; the ruling then applies from day one. Applications after that deadline start from the month of the application.
A founder who moves to the Netherlands and employs themselves through their own BV can qualify too, when the recruitment, the distance rule and the salary norm are met. The partial foreign tax liability that came with the ruling ended for new cases in 2025.
Example
An engineer from Mumbai starts in Eindhoven in 2026 on a salary of €90,000. Her employer pays €27,000 tax-free and taxes €63,000. From 2027 the tax-free part becomes 27%, €24,300, because her ruling started after 2023. Her net income is around €12,000 a year higher thanks to the ruling.
The figures
All 2026 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2026 · the 2027 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2027.
Questions people ask
Can a DGA of their own BV get the ruling?
Yes, when the DGA is recruited from abroad, lived more than 150 kilometres from the border for 16 of the last 24 months and earns at least the salary norm after the allowance. The BV files the application as employer.
What happens when the ruling ends?
The full salary becomes taxable. Many employees and their employers plan the salary and the pension for that moment in advance; the page on what happens after the ruling covers it.
Holdwise, Hoofddorp. Definition and explanation maintained with the Dutch and German glossaries; figures from the central rates source, year 2026. Updated 16 September 2026.
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