Wealth Management

Box 3 in 2028: From Deemed Returns to Actual Returns

Updated: 11 August 2026 Box 3 Actual Returns Capital Growth Tax

Today the Netherlands taxes private wealth on returns the law assumes you made. The plan on the table changes that: tax on the returns you actually made, targeted for 2028. Here is where the shift stands and what to do meanwhile.

Short answer

Box 3 moves to actual returns on 1 January 2028. Status: the House passed the Actual Returns Act on 12 February 2026; the Senate debated it on 30 June and postponed its vote pending a Budget Day amendment. The step-up makes the value on 1 January 2028 the starting point, so growth before that date stays permanently outside the levy. Until then box 3 runs at 36% over deemed returns, with the counterproof scheme for lower actual returns.

The system today, in plain words

Box 3 assigns a fixed, assumed return to each type of asset — low for savings, higher for investments — and taxes that assumption at 36%, above the exemption of €59,357 per person (2026). Whether your portfolio actually earned that much plays a role only through the escape route below.

The escape route that already works

After the supreme court stepped in during 2024, taxpayers whose real return sits under the assumed one can prove it and pay over the real number instead — the counter-evidence scheme (tegenbewijsregeling). It runs on documentation: keep your return data per asset, per year, starting now.

What 2028 is meant to bring

The bill on the table — the Wet werkelijk rendement box 3 — taxes actual returns directly: interest, dividend, rent and value changes, with its own rules per asset type. The target date has shifted before and can shift again; until the law is in force, the deemed system with counter-evidence remains the rule.

How to prepare

Three habits pay off in every scenario: year-end statements saved per account, purchase values documented per asset, and the box 3 versus BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) comparison reviewed as the rules firm up. The current mechanics stand in the box 3 guide; the full rate picture on Netherlands tax rates.

The neighbouring questions

In the same direction: DGA Pension in 2026 and Setting Up a STAK in 2026.

Advice, free of obligation

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Part of Doing Business in the Netherlands — the complete 2026 guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I already pay tax on actual returns today? +

Only through the counter-evidence route, when your real return sits under the deemed one and you can document it. The default remains the deemed system until the new law takes effect.

Sources Belastingdienst · KVK · wetten.overheid.nl Last updated: 11 August 2026