How it works
A shareholder who owns 5% or more of a company has a substantial interest. Dividend from that company and the gain on selling its shares are taxed in box 2. Almost every DGA and every private holding owner is in box 2.
Box 2 has two brackets. In 2026 the first €68,843 is taxed at 24.5% and everything above at 31%. The first bracket is per person, so fiscal partners can each use it: €137,686 at the low rate in one year when the dividend is split between them.
The 15% dividend tax the BV withheld is credited in full. What the shareholder pays in the income tax return is the box 2 tax minus that prepayment.
Box 2 also taxes a loan from your own BV above €500,000 as if it were dividend. And when an owner moves abroad, the Dutch tax authority sets a conservation assessment on the value built up until then; it is collected only when the shares are sold or the dividend is paid.
Example
A couple owns a holding together, 50% each. The holding pays €130,000 dividend. Each partner declares €65,000 in box 2, below the first-bracket limit, so the whole amount is taxed at 24.5%: €31,850 in total, minus the 15% already withheld.
The figures
All 2026 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2026 · the 2027 figures: Netherlands tax rates 2027.
Questions people ask
Does box 2 tax profit that stays in the BV?
As long as the profit stays in the company, only corporate income tax applies. Box 2 tax is due at the moment of dividend or sale. Until then the profit compounds after corporate tax.
What is the total tax on profit paid out as dividend?
Corporate income tax first, box 2 next. On profit in the first corporate bracket and the first box 2 bracket the combined burden is about 38.8% in 2026; the profit calculator shows it per amount.
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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