gobordaGlobal mobility intelligence
Work & skilled workersPassedHigh impactVerified

Netherlands narrows the expatriate tax ruling for new arrivals

🇳🇱 NetherlandsWork Permits1 recorded versionLast change 15 Jul 2026
ConfidenceVery high · 100%

Current rules

From 1 January 2027: Maximum tax-free allowance: 27% This applies to employees whose use of the ruling began from 2024 onward, subject to the transitional rules. Employees who were already using the ruling before 1 January 2024 retain more favourable transitional treatment and can continue to receive the 30% allowance for the remainder of their ruling period.

Overview

The Netherlands is reducing the tax benefit available under its 30% ruling for qualifying foreign employees. For those who began using the ruling from 2024 onward, the maximum tax-free allowance will decrease to 27% of qualifying salary starting 1 January 2027.

Who is affected by the latest change

  • Highly skilled foreign employees recruited from abroad
  • International professionals relocating to the Netherlands
  • Employers hiring eligible foreign employees
  • Employees beginning the 30% ruling from 2024 onward
  • Future international hires who meet the ruling's eligibility conditions

What changed in the latest version

Before

Before the recent changes, qualifying people working from another country could get up to 30% of their salary tax-free. This lasted for the full five-year period. The Netherlands then started a phased reduction in 2024. The current government plan later set the maximum rate at 27% from 2027. This was instead of the original proposal for a 30%-20%-10% structure.

After

From 1 January 2027: The largest tax-free allowance will be 27%. This applies to employees who started using the ruling from 2024. There are special transitional rules for these employees. Employees who were already using the ruling before 1 January 2024 keep more favourable transitional treatment. They can continue to receive the 30% allowance for the rest of their ruling period.

The 30% ruling is a Dutch tax facility. Under this ruling, an eligible employer can give a qualifying foreign employee a tax-free allowance. This allowance covers costs related to working in another country, also known as extraterritorial expenses. Under the current 2026 rules, eligible employees can get up to 30% of their qualifying salary tax-free. This is subject to meeting the salary and other conditions. The facility can generally apply for up to five years.

Explained simply

Imagine you're an international expert coming to work in the Netherlands. Before, the rules said you could get a special tax break, called the '30% ruling', meaning a chunk of your salary wasn't taxed to help with extra costs like moving or setting up a new home. This tax break used to be 30% of your salary for up to five years. Now, if you started using this tax break from 2024 onwards, it's changing. From 1 January 2027, that 30% tax-free amount will shrink down to 27%. Think of it like this: if you used to get 30 stickers for every 100 points, now you'll eventually get 27 stickers instead, but only if you're a new player from 2024. If you were already using the 30% ruling before 2024, you generally keep the old rules.

Version history

  1. v1Effective 1 Jan 2027PassedHigh impact
    Netherlands narrows the expatriate tax ruling for new arrivals

    The Netherlands is reducing the tax benefit available under its 30% ruling. This ruling helps qualifying foreign employees. For employees who started using the ruling from 2024, the largest tax-free allowance will become 27% of their qualifying salary. This will start on 1 January 2027, instead of 30%. This change is part of the Netherlands' wider plan to reduce this tax benefit for people working from another country.

Other routes in this country

1 / 6