What is left of the Dutch 30% ruling after the reform

Formally the 30%-regeling, or expatregeling, the scheme allows an employer to pay 30% of gross salary as a tax-free allowance to staff recruited from outside the country who meet a defined set of conditions. On paper it covers extraterritorial costs, the additional expense of running two households, paying international school fees and generally dismantling and rebuilding a life. In practice it is a substantial tax cut, and it explains why the Netherlands competes for international staff far more effectively than its published rates would imply.

The 2024 change is that the 30% no longer holds steady across the whole term. It now steps down over 60 months. The announcement provoked an outcry and still causes resentment, since it binds everyone whose ruling was granted on or after 1 January 2024.

The basics: what the ruling does

Qualify, and your employer can designate 30% of gross pay as reimbursement of extraterritorial costs. That portion escapes Dutch income tax and social premiums altogether. The remaining 70% passes through Box 1 as ordinary employment income.

Applied to €85,000, the taxable figure drops to €59,500. With Box 1 charging 36.97% up to €75,518 and 49.50% above it, cutting the base that way produces a sizeable saving.

What the 2024 phasing means in practice

Rulings approved before 2024 paid a flat 30% for the full 60 months. The current schedule looks like this:

• First 20 months: 30% of gross is tax-free
• Months 21-40: 20% of gross is tax-free
• Months 41-60: 10% of gross is tax-free
• After 60 months: ruling expires, full Dutch tax rates apply

Five years of relief are still available, but the value is concentrated at the start. Years one and two hold almost all of it, and by the fourth and fifth the benefit has thinned out substantially.

Who is eligible

The conditions as they stand for 2026:

• Recruited from abroad: You must have been living more than 150km from the Dutch border before being hired by your Dutch employer. This rules out people already living in Belgium or Germany who simply cross the border for a job.
• Minimum salary: Your taxable salary (the 70% portion) must be at least €46,107 gross in 2026. This means your total salary must be at least €65,867 to qualify at the 30% rate. There's a lower threshold for researchers (€35,048 taxable) - primarily for academic and R&D roles.
• Specific expertise: You must have skills that are scarce on the Dutch labour market. In practice, this is interpreted broadly and most professional roles in tech, finance, life sciences, and engineering qualify without difficulty.
• Employment by a Dutch employer: You must have a Dutch employment contract. Freelancers and ZZP'ers cannot claim the ruling.

The numbers: take-home at €85,000

Here is how monthly net pay shifts across the three phases against the no-ruling baseline, for a single person on €85,000 gross:

Phase 1 is worth €958 a month compared with no ruling at all. By Phase 3 that has fallen to €295. Across all 60 months the saving on an €85,000 salary comes to roughly €43,000, a serious figure, though clearly short of what a flat 30% over five years used to hand over.

Can it be combined with other Dutch tax breaks?

You can, and this is where a little planning pays. Holding the ruling does not shut you out of:

• Hypotheekrenteaftrek (mortgage interest deduction): If you buy property in the Netherlands, mortgage interest is deductible from Box 1 income. This stacks with the 30% ruling to reduce your taxable base further.
• Zorgtoeslag (healthcare allowance): A government subsidy towards health insurance premiums. This is income-tested, so many 30% ruling recipients at higher salaries won't qualify, but it's worth checking.
• Pension contributions: Third-pillar pension contributions (lijfrente) are deductible from taxable income in Box 1. This is an effective additional tool for 30% ruling holders given their already-reduced taxable base.
• Partial non-residency status: 30% ruling holders can elect to be treated as partial non-residents, which means savings and investments held outside the Netherlands are not subject to Box 3 (wealth tax). This is particularly relevant for professionals with investment portfolios or property in their home country.

That final option exists solely for ruling holders and can be worth a great deal to anyone holding assets abroad, provided the filings are handled properly so nothing ends up counted twice by two tax authorities.

When the paperwork is not worth it

Paperwork comes with it. The application goes to the Belastingdienst through your employer on the prescribed form, together with evidence of where you lived previously, what you are qualified in and what your contract states. Expect eight to sixteen weeks for a decision.

Sitting only just above the €65,867 threshold, the sums involved may not justify the effort, particularly on a posting likely to finish inside two years where only Phase 1 ever applies. Further up the scale the case makes itself: someone on €130,000 gains roughly €1,400 a month during Phase 1, and at that level nobody quibbles about forms.

One trap catches people again and again. Move from Company A to Company B and the ruling travels with you, but the clock keeps running from the original grant date. Thirty months in when you change jobs means thirty months left, not a fresh sixty.