Dutch 30% Ruling: Eligibility, 2027 Changes, and How to Apply

The Dutch 30% ruling is a tax facility that lets a Dutch employer pay up to 30% of an eligible foreign employee’s gross salary as a tax-free allowance, meant to offset the extra costs of moving to and working in the Netherlands.¹ It runs for a maximum of five years, and you qualify only if you were recruited from abroad, lived far enough away before the job, and earn above a set threshold. In 2026 that threshold is €48,013 for most applicants and €36,497 for workers under 30 with a Master’s degree. Two big changes are in motion: the allowance drops to 27% on January 1, 2027, and the partial non-resident tax option has already been abolished for new rulings.

Who Qualifies

The Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) checks three things: your salary, where you lived before, and how you were hired.

Salary Thresholds in 2026

Your annual taxable salary, not counting the tax-free allowance itself, has to clear a minimum that is updated each year.¹ For 2026:

General threshold: €48,013 per year.
Under 30 with a Master’s degree: €36,497 per year.
Scientific researchers at designated facilities and doctors training as specialists: no minimum.

The salary test acts as a proxy for “specific expertise” that is scarce in the Dutch labor market. Clear the threshold and the Belastingdienst treats that expertise as proven.

The 150-Kilometer Rule

You must have lived more than 150 kilometers from the Dutch border, measured as the crow flies, for at least 16 of the 24 months before your first working day in the Netherlands.¹ That straight-line measurement rules out people who were living in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the border regions of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Keep evidence of where you lived: utility bills, rental agreements, or bank statements showing a foreign address in that window.

Recruited From Abroad

You have to be recruited or assigned to a Dutch employer from outside the Netherlands. Someone already living and working in the country who moves to a different Dutch employer is not “recruited from abroad” for a new application, although an existing ruling can sometimes travel with you to a new job (see below).

How the Tax-Free Allowance Works

Up to 30% of your gross salary is paid as a tax-free allowance, and normal Dutch income tax applies only to the remaining 70%. Social security contributions are also based on the taxed portion, which lowers your premiums but can reduce state pension accrual over time.

The allowance is capped. The salary base is limited to a level tied to the WNT standard, the Dutch cap on senior public-sector pay. In 2026, that cap sits at €262,000.¹ Used for a full year, the maximum tax-free amount comes to €78,600. Anything you earn above the €262,000 cap is fully taxable.

There is one add-on worth knowing about. Your employer can reimburse international school tuition and school-arranged transport tax-free, on top of the percentage allowance, provided the school follows a foreign curriculum and primarily serves children of workers from abroad.¹ School fees you pay yourself are not deductible, so this only works if it is arranged through payroll from the start.

The 2027 Change: 30% Becomes 27%

An earlier plan to step the allowance down in stages (nicknamed 30/20/10) was scrapped. In its place, a flat cut to 27% takes effect on January 1, 2027.² For anyone hired from January 1, 2024 onward:

The minimum salary standard also rises in 2027, to €50,436.² If you are planning your move, starting employment before January 1, 2027 locks in the 30% rate for the years leading up to that date.

End of Partial Non-Resident Tax Status

This is the change that has caught existing expats off guard. Under the old rules, 30% ruling holders could elect “partial non-resident” tax treatment, so that the Netherlands only taxed their Dutch-source income in Box 2 (substantial shareholdings) and Box 3 (savings and investments). Foreign bank accounts, overseas investment portfolios, and property abroad stayed off the Dutch return entirely.

That option was abolished on January 1, 2025, for anyone whose ruling starts on or after that date.⁴ A transitional rule preserves the option through December 31, 2026 for employees who were already using the Expat Scheme in the last pay period of 2023.³

Once partial non-resident status ends, you are treated as a full Dutch tax resident. Worldwide assets become reportable and taxable on your Dutch return, including foreign investment accounts, non-Dutch real estate, and retirement accounts. The Box 3 system taxes a deemed return on your net assets at a flat 36%, so the impact for expats with significant savings or investments abroad can be substantial. This is the kind of change where speaking with a Dutch tax adviser before the transition date is worth the fee.

How to Apply and the Four-Month Deadline

The application is joint: both employer and employee sign it. The form, “Application Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions Expat Scheme (30% facility),” is on the Belastingdienst website.⁵ It asks for the employer’s tax registration details and the employee’s personal details, including the BSN (Citizen Service Number) and a passport or ID copy.

Include your supporting documents: proof of your previous address outside the 150-kilometer zone and, for applicants under 30, your Master’s degree certificate. Documents should be in Dutch, English, German, or French to avoid delays.

The critical deadline is four months from your first working day. File within those four months and the ruling applies retroactively from day one. File later and the ruling only starts on the first day of the month after the Belastingdienst receives your application. The months in between are lost for good. The Belastingdienst aims to decide within eight weeks.¹

Duration and Changing Jobs

The maximum term is five years. Your decision letter shows the exact end date. Any earlier period of Dutch residence or work is deducted from that five-year total, unless your last stay in the Netherlands ended more than 25 years before this employment began.¹

If you change employers, the ruling does not move on its own. You and the new employer must file a fresh joint application.³ The hard rule is that your new job must start within three months of the end of the old one. Miss that window and the ruling ends. Watch the clock carefully: the tax authority interprets the three months as running from your last day of actual work, not from the formal contract end date, so garden leave can eat into the gap before you realize it.

If You Started Before 2024

Employees already using the 30% facility before January 1, 2024 keep the old rules for the remainder of their five-year term. Your employer can continue paying 30% tax-free through the end of your ruling, and the 2027 reduction to 27% does not apply.³ The salary thresholds you started under continue to apply, adjusted for inflation.

That transitional protection breaks if your Dutch employment was interrupted after December 31, 2023 by a gap of more than three months. A gap of three months or less, in line with the standard employer-switch rule, does not knock you out of the transitional arrangement.

Driving License Exchange

One practical side benefit is unrelated to tax but matters day to day: 30% ruling holders from any country can exchange a foreign driving license for a Dutch one without sitting the Dutch driving exam.⁶ Without the ruling, most non-EU/EFTA license holders would have to pass the full Dutch test.

You apply at your local municipality with your valid foreign license, passport, a recent passport photo, a Health Declaration Form from the CBR, your residence permit, and the decision letter granting the ruling. Licenses in non-Latin scripts need a certified translation. The municipality forwards the file to the RDW, and the new license usually arrives within a few weeks.⁶ You have to hand in the original license during the process, and you cannot legally drive in the interval between surrender and issue. The window for using this route is limited, so it is worth starting soon after you arrive.

1
Tax Administration. Can I apply for the Expat Scheme (30% facility)?
2
Business.gov.nl. 30% ruling: compensation for expats down to 27%
3
Business.gov.nl. The 30% ruling for your foreign employees in the Netherlands
4
Tax Administration. Exemption from filing an income tax return for your employees
5
Belastingdienst. Verzoek loonheffingen expatregeling (30%-regeling)
6
RDW. Exchanging a foreign driving licence