Netherlands 30% Ruling 2027: The 27% Cut and Who Keeps 30%
From 1 January 2027, the Dutch 30% ruling (now officially called the expat scheme, or expatregeling) pays at most 27% of your salary tax-free if your ruling started in 2024 or later. If your employer applied the ruling to your pay by the end of 2023, you keep 30% for the rest of your five years. On the same date, the partial non-resident tax status ends for everyone, and people who started in 2025 or later face a higher salary threshold.
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Key Takeaways
- The cut is law, not a proposal. The Tax Plan 2025 (Staatsblad 2024, 434) replaced the old 30/20/10 phase-down with a flat maximum of 30% in 2025 and 2026, then 27% from 2027.
- Three groups, three outcomes. Ruling started by 2023: 30% to the end. Started in 2024: 27% from 2027, old salary norm. Started in 2025 or later: 27% plus a new, higher salary norm.
- The cost is modest. On a EUR 80,000 salary, going from 30% to 27% costs about EUR 1,200 a year in net pay (about EUR 100 a month). On EUR 120,000, about EUR 2,000.
- The salary norm is on taxable pay. In 2026 your salary after the tax-free part must exceed EUR 48,013 (EUR 36,497 if you are under 30 with a master's degree). That means about EUR 68,600 gross for the full 30%.
- The bigger 2027 change for some: partial non-resident status ends, so worldwide savings and investments become taxable in box 2 and box 3.
- No further cuts are planned. The January 2026 coalition agreement says the scheme will not be cut further, and the Tax Plan 2027 contains no change to it (as of October 2026).
What Changes on 1 January 2027
The government's official overview splits ruling holders by when the ruling was first applied:
| Ruling first applied | 2025 and 2026 | From 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| By the last pay period of 2023 | Up to 30%, current salary norm | Up to 30%, current salary norm (to the end of the ruling) |
| In 2024 | Up to 30%, current salary norm | Up to 27%, current salary norm |
| From 1 January 2025 | Up to 30%, current salary norm | Up to 27%, new higher salary norm |
Three details people miss:
- Starting in 2024 is not the same as starting in 2025. Both groups drop to 27%, but only the 2025 group moves to the higher salary norm. Some business and tax pages say everyone who started after 2023 gets the higher norm. The government's own table says otherwise.
- The 30% group can lose its protection. The transitional rules (Staatsblad 2023, 499) only survive a gap of up to three months between jobs. Leave the Dutch workforce for longer and you come back on the new rules.
- The 30/20/10 phase-down never happened. It was reversed before its first step-down took effect, so ignore any calculator or HR leaflet that still uses it.
How the Ruling Works Today
The ruling lets your employer pay part of your salary as a tax-free allowance for the extra costs of moving to the Netherlands, with no need to prove those costs. In 2026 the allowance can be up to 30% of your salary including the allowance. On a EUR 100,000 package, up to EUR 30,000 is paid tax-free and EUR 70,000 is taxed. The employer may pay less than the maximum, so check the exact figure in your contract.
To qualify, per the Belastingdienst (as of October 2026):
- You are recruited from abroad. For more than 16 of the 24 months before your first working day, you must have lived more than 150 km in a straight line from the Dutch border. This rules out most people from Belgium, Luxembourg and the German border region.
- You have scarce expertise, which the tax office measures by salary (see the norms below).
- You and your employer apply together. Use the "Application for Expat Scheme" form. File within four months of your start date and the ruling applies from day one. File later and it only applies from the month after you apply, so you lose the months in between. The ruling is never automatic, and an employer does not have to offer it.
- It lasts at most 5 years. Earlier work or stays in the Netherlands are deducted from the 5 years, unless they ended more than 25 years ago. Very short stays (under 20 working days a year, or short visits) do not count.
There is no nationality condition, so a Dutch citizen returning after years abroad can qualify if they meet the 150 km rule. Their earlier years in the Netherlands shorten the 5 years unless those years ended more than 25 years ago.
Salary norms
The norm applies to your taxable salary, meaning your salary minus the tax-free allowance. Holiday allowance counts as taxable salary.
| Year | Standard norm | Under 30 with a master's degree | Gross needed for the full allowance (standard) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | EUR 46,660 | EUR 35,468 | about EUR 66,700 |
| 2026 | EUR 48,013 | EUR 36,497 | about EUR 68,600 |
| 2027, new norm (2025+ starters) | EUR 50,436 in 2024 prices, indexed | EUR 38,338 in 2024 prices, indexed | at least about EUR 69,100 at 27% |
The new norm was set in 2024 prices in the parliamentary amendment and will be indexed, so the real 2027 figure will be higher. It had not been published by mid-October 2026. The 2024 group keeps the old norm, indexed each year as usual.
If you earn a little less than the "gross needed" figure, you do not lose the ruling. Your employer lowers the allowance so that your taxable salary stays at the norm. Scientific researchers at designated institutions and doctors training as specialists have no salary norm at all.
The cap for high earners
The allowance only applies to salary up to the public-sector pay cap (the WNT norm). For 2026 that cap is EUR 262,000, so the maximum tax-free allowance is EUR 78,600. From 1 January 2026 the cap applies to every ruling holder, including the old group that used to be exempt. The 2027 cap is EUR 273,000, which works out to a maximum of EUR 73,710 at 27%.
What the 27% Cut Costs You
This example uses the official 2026 box 1 rates and tax credits for all three columns, so it shows the effect of the percentage alone. Assumptions: age 30 or over, a full year of Dutch tax residence, gross salary including holiday allowance, and no pension contributions or other deductions.
| Gross salary | No ruling, net | 30% ruling, net | 27% ruling, net | 30% to 27% costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR 80,000 | EUR 53,913 | EUR 66,112 | EUR 64,901 | EUR 1,211 a year (EUR 101 a month) |
| EUR 120,000 | EUR 71,509 | EUR 91,672 | EUR 89,656 | EUR 2,016 a year (EUR 168 a month) |
How the EUR 80,000 case works: at 30%, EUR 24,000 is tax-free and EUR 56,000 is taxed. At 27%, EUR 21,600 is tax-free and EUR 58,400 is taxed. The extra EUR 2,400 of taxable pay is taxed at 37.56%, and it also shrinks both tax credits. The ruling is still worth about EUR 11,000 a year at 27%.
The proposed 2027 rates (36.23% and 38.16% in the lower brackets, 49.50% at the top) will shift these numbers slightly, but not the size of the cut. For your own budget, set the net figure against rent. In the site's data, the average rent in the Netherlands is about US$2,150 a month against an average net salary of about US$3,460. The cost of living calculator shows how far your offer goes in Amsterdam versus other cities you are considering.
The Other 2027 Change: Partial Non-Resident Status Ends
This change may matter more than the 27% if you have savings or investments. Ruling holders used to be able to choose partial non-resident status. It kept most worldwide savings and investments out of Dutch box 2 and box 3 tax. The option was abolished from 2025. People whose ruling was applied by the end of 2023 could keep it under a transitional rule, but only until 31 December 2026, according to the Belastingdienst.
So your 2026 tax return is the last one with this option. From 1 January 2027, your worldwide assets count for Dutch box 3 like everyone else's. If you hold a large portfolio or property abroad, talk to a Dutch tax adviser before year end.
Do Not Confuse It With the IND Salary Threshold
Many people who get the ruling also need a highly skilled migrant permit, which has its own salary test run by the immigration service (IND). The two tests work differently:
| IND highly skilled migrant | 30% ruling salary norm | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 threshold | EUR 5,942 a month gross (30 or older), EUR 4,357 (under 30) | EUR 48,013 a year taxable (EUR 36,497 for under-30s with a master's) |
| Measured on | Gross monthly salary | Taxable annual salary, after the tax-free allowance |
| Holiday allowance | Not counted | Counted |
The IND looks at your actual gross salary, including the part paid tax-free. If an employer cuts your gross salary to keep your net pay the same after applying the ruling, the lower gross must still clear the IND threshold. The IND confirmed this in 2025.
How to Read a Dutch Job Offer
Employers handle the ruling in one of two ways. Ask which one they use before you compare offers.
- Same gross. The employer keeps your gross salary and pays part of it tax-free. Your net pay goes up.
- Same net. The employer lowers your gross salary so that your net pay stays the same, and keeps the saving.
Then check four things:
- The exact percentage in the contract. "Up to 30%" is a maximum, not a promise. For anyone who started from 2024 onward, it should say 27% from 2027.
- What happens to your pension. Some employers build up your pension on the lower taxable salary, some let you opt out of that, and others make no reduction. Ask HR.
- Benefits are based on the lower figure. The tax-free allowance is not counted in the daily wage for Dutch unemployment benefit (WW), as a 2022 appeals court ruling confirmed. Disability benefit (WIA) uses the same daily wage. At high salaries this matters less, because these benefits are capped at a maximum daily wage anyway.
- The cliff after year 5. When the ruling ends, your net pay drops by the full tax saving overnight. Plan your rent and mortgage for that day, not for year one.
Who Benefits Most, and Who Should Not Count on It
Strong fit: people recruited from far away (the US, the UK, India, China) on salaries comfortably above the norm. Also researchers and specialist trainees, who face no salary norm, and families who can add tax-free international school fees, which employers may reimburse on top of the ruling.
Weak fit: people who lived within 150 km of the border, and people who lived or worked in the Netherlands recently, because that time is deducted from the 5 years. (PhD graduates get one break: their 150 km test looks at the 24 months before the PhD started.) The ruling also does little for people whose salary barely clears the norm, since the allowance shrinks to keep taxable pay at the threshold.
If you are weighing the Netherlands against other European offers, compare the whole package, not just the tax break. The country comparison tool puts rent, salaries and safety side by side, and the tech career guide covers other hubs.
Common Mistakes
- Applying late. Every month after the four-month window is lost for good.
- Budgeting on 30% when you started in 2024 or later. Your allowance drops to 27% on 1 January 2027.
- Changing jobs with a long gap. More than three months between Dutch employers ends the ruling. If you had it before 2024, the gap also costs you the 30% and the old rules.
- Ignoring box 3. Partial non-resident status ends after the 2026 tax year, even for the oldest rulings.
- Trusting old pages. Many guides still show the 30/20/10 phase-down, the 2025 thresholds, or an under-30 figure of EUR 38,388 (the law says EUR 38,338).
Is the Ruling Going Away?
Not on current plans. The D66, VVD and CDA coalition agreement of January 2026 says the scheme will not be cut further. In July 2026 the government rejected calls to abolish it over housing costs. A March 2026 proposal in parliament to cut it was voted down, and the Tax Plan 2027, presented on 15 September 2026, contains no change to it.
The cabinet is a minority government, though, and parliament has not yet finished debating the Tax Plan 2027. Treat 27% as the planning figure, and recheck before you sign.
Sources
- Rijksoverheid: belastingvoordeel buitenlandse werknemers (cohort table, 27% from 2027)
- Belastingdienst: can I apply for the Expat Scheme (30% facility)?
- Staatsblad 2024, 434: Belastingplan 2025
- Kamerstuk 36 602, nr. 41: second memorandum of amendment (27% and the new norms)
- Belastingdienst: partial non-resident tax status
- Belastingdienst: payroll tax rates and amounts 2026
- IND: required amounts for income requirements
Frequently Asked Questions
I started working in the Netherlands in 2024. Does the 27% apply to me?
Yes. If your ruling was first applied in 2024, your maximum allowance drops from 30% to 27% on 1 January 2027. You keep the old salary norm, though. Only people who started from 2025 onward move to the higher norm.
Can I still get the 30% ruling if I start a job in 2027?
You can get the ruling, but at 27%, not 30%, and with the new higher salary norm. Everything else stays the same: recruitment from abroad, the 150 km rule, a joint application within four months, and a maximum of five years.
Does the ruling move with me to a new employer?
Yes, if your new job starts within three months of the old one ending and your new employer applies with you within four months of your start date. Moving within the same group of companies needs no new application. Either way, the time you have already used counts toward your 5 years.
What is the 2027 salary threshold?
For 2025 and later starters, the new norm is EUR 50,436 in 2024 prices (EUR 38,338 for under-30s with a master's), indexed to 2027. The indexed figures had not been published by mid-October 2026. For everyone else, the existing norm (EUR 48,013 in 2026) continues with normal indexation.
Is the 30% ruling worth negotiating over?
Usually, yes. At EUR 80,000 gross it adds about EUR 11,000 a year in net pay even at 27%. Make sure the contract states the percentage and whether your gross salary stays the same. Also ask how the employer treats your pension.
Next Step
The ruling makes the Netherlands more affordable for five years, but it should not be the only reason to move. Run your numbers through the cost of living calculator, then use the Relocation Wizard to see how the Netherlands ranks against the other countries on your list.
