Use this free Dutch 30% ruling calculator (30 procent regeling) to check if your employment contract in the Netherlands qualifies. Built for highly skilled migrants and kennismigranten — covers eligibility, tax savings, mortgage impact, and pension tradeoffs. Now includes a 2026 / 2027 (proposed) toggle for the confirmed rate drop to 27%.
Eligibility checkerTax savings calculatorMortgage impactPension impactFAQ included
Estimates only. The 30% ruling is decided case by case by the Dutch tax authority. Always verify your situation with a tax advisor or Belastingdienst. | Last updated: 16 September 2026 — added 2027 proposed rules
Rules to use:
2026: ruling at 30%, standard salary threshold €48,013 (under-30 Master's: €36,497). Every calculator below uses whichever year you pick — parliament still needs to pass the Belastingplan 2027, expected Nov–Dec 2026.
1
Eligibility Checker
Use this first to get a quick yes/no result. If one requirement fails, the ruling may not apply, even if the salary looks high enough.
Waiting for input
Enter your details and press Check eligibility.
2
Tax Savings Calculator
This estimates the cash benefit of the ruling. It is simplified, but good enough to compare offers and understand the scale of the advantage.
Note: we could not independently confirm a separate absolute salary cap for the 2027 proposal in official sources — only the 30%→27% rate drop and higher salary thresholds are confirmed. Treat any cap-based warning below as speculative until confirmed.
Item
Without 30% ruling
With 30% ruling
Savings
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Mortgage Impact Calculator
Some banks look at taxable income instead of gross income. That can reduce what you can borrow, even while your monthly cash flow improves.
Mortgage paradox: More monthly cash, but some banks may use taxable income, which can reduce borrowing power. A mortgage advisor can often steer you to a friendlier lender.
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Pension Impact Estimator
The ruling can reduce pension accrual because part of your salary is treated as an expense reimbursement rather than pensionable income.
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Should I Use the 30% Ruling?
This decision tool compares cash now, mortgage flexibility, pension impact, and your time horizon in the Netherlands.
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30% Ruling: Five-Year Savings Overview
How the 30% Ruling Works
The 30% ruling is a Dutch tax advantage for employees hired from abroad with specific expertise. It lets 30% of gross salary be paid as a tax-free reimbursement for extraterritorial costs.
How the 30% Tax-Free Reimbursement Works
If you earn €60,000/year with the ruling, €18,000 is tax-free and you pay Dutch income tax only on €42,000. The exact savings depend on your salary, credits, and family situation.
Who Qualifies for the 30% Ruling?
It is mainly for skilled workers recruited from abroad, where the Dutch labour market treats your expertise as scarce. Freelancers usually do not qualify.
1
Confirm the 150km rule
You must have lived more than 150km from the Dutch border for 16 of the 24 months before starting work.
2
Check the salary threshold
For 2026, standard eligibility needs at least €48,013 taxable salary per year (€36,497 for younger Master's graduates). A proposed 2027 change, not yet law, would raise these to €50,436 and €38,388.
3
Apply within 4 months
The employer and employee normally apply together. Missing the deadline can kill the ruling for that job.
Important: The ruling is not just a tax perk. It can affect your mortgage, your pension accrual, and your net pay after the 5-year expiry.
Guide: What to check in detail
Use this when you want the deeper explanation behind the numbers before making a decision.
Topic
What to check
Ask this before you decide
Eligibility basics
The 150km rule, salary threshold, expertise requirement, and the 4-month application deadline.
Do I meet every requirement, or am I relying on a borderline case?
Mortgage impact
Some banks use taxable salary, not gross. That can cut borrowing power even while cash flow improves.
Will my lender use gross or taxable income for affordability?
Pension impact
Only pensionable salary counts for accrual, so the ruling can create a pension gap over time.
Should I make extra pension contributions to compensate?
Cash flow
Monthly net pay increases, but the effect fades when the ruling expires after 5 years.
Am I saving enough to handle the drop when the ruling ends?
Future changes
Policy shifts can affect future applicants. New rules may reduce the benefit for people who start later.
Should I factor in the risk of future rule changes?
Decision tradeoff
Cash now, mortgage flexibility, and long-term pension security often point in different directions.
What matters most to me right now: cash, housing, or retirement?
Share this calculator
Know an expat who could benefit from the 30% ruling?
Maybe, but only if you were more than 150km from the Dutch border for the required period. Brussels is usually too close; Paris usually qualifies.
You can often keep it, but your new employer needs to apply too and the 5-year clock does not reset.
Generally no. The 30% ruling is for employees. Some unusual payroll structures exist, but do not assume freelancing income qualifies.
You still pay AOW on your full gross salary. The bigger issue is usually employer pension accrual, which can be lower because only taxable salary counts.
It depends on the bank and your timing. It can increase monthly cash but reduce mortgage capacity if the lender uses taxable income.
The Dutch 30% ruling (now often called the expatregeling) is a tax facility for highly skilled employees recruited from abroad. It allows employers to pay 30% of gross salary as a tax-free allowance, significantly increasing net income, for a maximum of 5 years. Correction: an earlier-planned step-down to 20% then 10% in later years was reversed before it took effect — for 2025 and 2026 the full 30% applies for the entire 5-year period. From 1 January 2027 the rate is proposed to drop to a flat 27% for the whole period, for new cases — see the FAQ below on the 2027 change.
For 2026, the standard threshold is €48,013 gross taxable salary; employees under 30 with a Master's degree qualify at a lower €36,497. For 2027 (proposed, not yet law), these rise to €50,436 and €38,388 respectively. Use the year toggle and eligibility checker above to see if your salary qualifies under either set of rules.
Confirmed in the Belastingplan 2027 (Prinsjesdag, 15 September 2026): the maximum tax-free percentage drops from 30% to 27% for new cases starting 1 January 2027, applied to the full 5-year period rather than just later years. At the same time the salary thresholds rise — standard from €48,013 to €50,436, and the under-30 Master's threshold from €36,497 to €38,388. This isn't law yet — parliament votes through October and November 2026, with final adoption expected November or December. Use the year toggle at the top of this page to compare both scenarios.
Yes — most lenders calculate borrowing capacity based on your taxable salary, not your full gross. Under the 2026 rules that's roughly 70% of gross (since 30% is tax-free); under the 2027 proposal it would be roughly 73% (since only 27% would be tax-free). This can still meaningfully reduce your maximum mortgage. The mortgage impact calculator above shows the exact difference for whichever year you select.
There can be implications for AOW entitlement depending on your situation and applicable tax treaties. If you plan to stay in the Netherlands long-term, it's worth understanding and potentially compensating for this gap.
A step-down to 20% then 10% after the first 20 months was originally planned to start in 2024, but it was reversed before ever taking effect — via a second nota van wijziging to the Belastingplan 2025. For 2025 and 2026, the ruling is a flat 30% for the entire 5-year period, with no step-down. The real change lands in 2027 instead: a proposed flat 27% for the whole period for new cases, covered in the FAQ above.
Maximum 5 years, with no extension. If you change employers the ruling can transfer, but the clock keeps ticking. Previous NL residence within the last 25 years is deducted from your maximum duration.
Official Sources
The rules and thresholds on this page are based on the following official Dutch government publications. When in doubt, always check the primary source.