30%-ruling
The 30% ruling is a Dutch tax facility intended to attract foreign workers with specific expertise to come and work in the Netherlands. If you would like to know which benefits apply to you or your employees, feel free to contact us by completing the contact form at the bottom of this page. Or read our eMagazine.
General
The 30% ruling is a tax-free allowance available to certain employees who move to the Netherlands. It is intended to cover all their ‘extraterritorial expenses’, such as additional expenses incurred when living outside their home country, including accommodation, etc. This 30% ruling can mean that the employee receives a much higher net salary and that the employer’s costs are reduced.
Fixed tax-free allowance
Which extraterritorial expenses does this ruling cover?
- travelling expenses from and to the home country;
- higher living expenses;
- double housing expenses;
- the cost of applying for a residence permit;
- the cost of changing official documents (excluding work permit);
- the cost of a language course.
Duration
The 30% ruling is granted for no longer than five years (60 months). This period may be reduced by the length of earlier periods spent living or working in the Netherlands.
Conditions
To be eligible for the 30% ruling, the following conditions must be met:
- The employee must have been recruited or assigned from abroad.
- The employer should be registered in the Netherlands as an entity required to deduct tax and social security contributions. A foreign employer can voluntarily register as an entity required to deduct Dutch tax and social security contributions in order to meet this condition. This condition is also met if, instead of the foreign employer, a Dutch group company of the foreign employer is appointed as an entity in the Netherlands required to deduct tax and social security contributions.
- The employee should have specific expertise which is seldom or never available on the Dutch labour market. An employee has this specific expertise if his or her salary satisfies wage standards.
- In the 24 months prior to being employed in the Netherlands, the employee has lived more than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border for more than two thirds of these 24 months (= 16 months).
