To be eligible for the 30% ruling in the Netherlands in 2026, you need to meet four requirements: your employer recruited you while you were living abroad, you have expertise that is scarce in the Dutch labor market, your taxable salary is at least €48,013 (or €36,497 if you are under 30 with a qualifying Master’s degree), and you lived more than 150 kilometers from the Dutch border for at least 16 of the 24 months before your first working day.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility All four must be true, and your employer applies for the ruling jointly with you.
Recruited From Outside the Netherlands
You must be hired while still living abroad. The Belastingdienst expects the recruitment to have taken place before you relocated, meaning your employer identified and pursued you for your specific expertise while you were outside the country.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility A signed employment contract or a formal secondment agreement needs to be in place before the move.
Your employer must also be a Dutch withholding agent, meaning an entity registered to handle payroll tax in the Netherlands.2Business.gov.nl. The 30% Ruling for Your Foreign Employees in the Netherlands You cannot apply on your own as an employee. If you are self-employed or working through an entity that does not withhold Dutch payroll tax, the ruling is not available.
The 150-Kilometer Distance Rule
For at least 16 of the 24 months before your first working day in the Netherlands, you must have lived more than 150 kilometers from the Dutch border. The distance is measured as the crow flies, not by road.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility This effectively disqualifies residents of Belgium, Luxembourg, and much of western Germany, even when they are genuinely relocating for the role.
Prior stays in the Netherlands inside that 24-month window can also count against you. Short internships or temporary work fall under the same check. Utility bills, rental agreements, or municipal registration records from your home country are the usual proof, and having an address history with clear dates ready to submit will save time.
Minimum Salary for 2026
The minimum salary is measured against your taxable salary — that is, the 70% that remains after the tax-free allowance is deducted. For 2026:
- Standard threshold, age 30 and older: €48,013 per year
- Reduced threshold, under 30 with a qualifying Master’s degree: €36,497 per year
Your total gross salary needs to be high enough that 70% of it meets or exceeds the threshold.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility For the standard threshold, that works out to a gross salary of roughly €68,590.
The thresholds are not prorated. Part-time work still requires the full annual figure. Falling below the threshold at any point during the year can end the ruling for the rest of that period, so salary changes need to be watched carefully.
There is also a ceiling on the salary the 30% allowance can be applied to. For 2026, that cap is €262,000 per year, which puts the maximum tax-free allowance at roughly €78,600. Earnings above the cap are taxed at standard Dutch rates. Transitional protections that had shielded some earlier ruling holders from the cap expired in January 2026, so the cap now applies to everyone.
Scientific Research and Medical Training Exception
If you are conducting scientific research at a designated Dutch research institution or training as a medical specialist, the salary threshold does not apply.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility You qualify regardless of what you earn, provided the other requirements are met.
How Specific Expertise Is Judged
The ruling targets workers whose skills are scarce in the Dutch labor market, but there is no separate skills assessment or credential review. The salary threshold itself is the proxy: if your taxable salary meets the required level, you are presumed to have the specific expertise.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility The reduced threshold adds an educational check, which is where the Master’s degree evidence comes in.
The Application and the Four-Month Deadline
You and your employer complete the form “Verzoek loonheffingen expatregeling” together, and the employer submits it to the Belastingdienst.3Belastingdienst. Verzoek Loonheffingen Expatregeling (30%-regeling) You need a Citizen Service Number (BSN), which you receive when you register at a Dutch municipality.
Submit within four months of your first working day. If the application is filed in time and approved, the ruling applies retroactively from day one. File later and it only takes effect from the first day of the month after you apply, and the missed months cannot be recovered.
Include your signed employment contract, proof that you lived outside the 150-kilometer zone for the required period, and, if you are applying under the reduced threshold, evidence of your Master’s degree. The Belastingdienst usually issues a decision within eight weeks.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility
Duration and Prior Time in the Netherlands
The ruling runs for a maximum of five years. Any prior periods of work or residence in the Netherlands within the past 25 years are subtracted from that total.1Tax Administration. Coming to Work in the Netherlands: 30% Facility Short trips do not cost you: business travel of less than 20 days per year and holiday visits under six weeks per year are ignored. Anything that ended more than 25 years before your current start date is also outside the lookback.
If You Change Employers
Switching jobs does not end the ruling automatically, but it does mean starting a fresh application. The existing decision cannot be transferred. Your new employer must file a joint application within three months of your new start date, or you lose coverage for the gap with no recovery.
A short break between jobs of a few weeks or a couple of months will not disqualify you, but the gap itself is not covered by the ruling, and it counts against your five-year total. Longer gaps of six months or more can raise questions about whether you still qualify as an incoming foreign worker.
Your new position must independently meet every requirement. The salary has to hit the current threshold on its own, and the new employer has to be a Dutch withholding agent. A previous salary well above the threshold does not carry forward if the new one falls short.
What Changes in 2027
The percentage drops from 30% to 27% on January 1, 2027, for anyone whose ruling began in 2024 or later. The salary thresholds rise as well: the standard minimum goes to €50,436 and the reduced threshold to €38,388.4Business.gov.nl. 30% Ruling: Compensation for Expats Down to 27%
Rulings already in effect before January 1, 2024 are grandfathered: a flat 30% for the full five-year duration under the existing salary norms.5Rijksoverheid. Expatregeling Hoogopgeleide Buitenlandse Werknemers For everyone else, 2026 is the last year at 30%, and a start date that lands just before or just after the turn of the year can meaningfully change what you receive.