Changes to the 30% allowance regulation for expats in the Netherlands

Monday 3 October 2022

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CHANGES TO THE 30% ALLOWANCE REGULATION FOR EXPATS

In an effort to attract highly educated foreign talent and experts, the Netherlands offer an attractive tax incentive that allows employers to compensate employees hired from abroad for the higher cost of living they may experience in the Netherlands.

 

Requirements

In order to apply the 30% facility, the employee and employer need to meet the following conditions:

  • An employment agreement has to be in place, with an agreed salary (after deduction of the 30% facility) of at least € 39,467 (2022 amount). If the employee is younger than 30, and has a degree equivalent to a Dutch academic master’s degree, the minimum salary is € 30,001 (2022 amount).
  • The employee was recruited by the employer outside of the Netherlands, and lived at a distance of more than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border for more than 16 out of the 24 months prior to the first working day in the Netherlands. If the employee has a PhD doctoral degree, more lenient requirements may apply.
  • The employer and employee need to obtain prior approval from the Dutch tax authorities, regarding the application of the 30% facility.

 

Current tax regime

Currently, there are hardly any limitations to the use of the 30% facility for employees, provided the criteria mentioned above are met. The tax ruling that can be obtained from the tax authorities will have a maximum duration of 5 years, but can be shorter if the employee has lived or worked in the Netherlands in the past.

 

New tax regime as of 2024

 As of January 1st 2024, the 30%-facility will be slightly amended. As of this date, the base salary to which the 30% facility can be applied will be limited at the maximum set forth in the act for standardisation of publicly and semi publicly financed remuneration of top managers (“Wet normering bezoldiging topfunctionarissen publieke en semipubliekesector”, or “WNT”).

 

The current maximum as per this legislation is € 216,000, effectively capping the tax-free remuneration at € 64,800 (30% of € 216,000). Apart from this, the expenses for international schooling (primary and secondary education) can be reimbursed to the employee tax-free as well.

 

It's also still possible to reimburse the actual extraterritorial cost to the employee,. However, if an employer and employee want to use this option, they have to agree to this at the start of each fiscal year. The choice cannot be amended during the year.

 

For employees who are already using the 30% facility in 2022, the new tax regime will not come into effect until January 1st 2026

 

For more information about the 30% facility, the consequences of these changes for your employees or assistance in deciding the most beneficial course of action, don’t hesitate to contact Hub van Grinsven (hub.van.grinsven@maprima.com) at Maprima Business Support BV.