To qualify, the employee must - amongst other criteria - be hired from abroad and meet the following salary requirements:
- For employees older than 30, the minimum required taxable salary for 2024 must be € 46.107 (2023: € 41.954)
- For employees younger than 30 and holding a qualifying master title, the minimum required taxable salary for 2024 must be € 35.048 (2023: € 31.891).
- For certain scientific researchers/teachers, no salary requirement applies.
This tax-free allowance is meant to compensate for additional expenses incurred during a temporary stay outside the country of origin (extra-territorial costs). These expenses cannot be reimbursed separately tax free on top of the 30% tax free reimbursement except for moving expenses and international school fees.
The above mentioned salary requirements apply for applications received by the IND on or after 1 January 2024.
As of 1st January 2019, the ruling is only applicable for a maximum period of 5 years. Please note for notifications issued before January 1, 2019 transitional rules may apply. This period will be reduced with possible periods of earlier stay and/or employment in the Netherlands (with exceptions for certain short periods).
The 30%-ruling has certain consequences in terms of social security. Social security rights and premiums may also be affected as these will be based on salary only, thus excluding the 30% allowance. Pension rights, however, can be based on the salary plus the tax-free 30% allowance provided it does not exceed the general maximum pensionable base of euro 107,593 per year for 2019.
Another important feature of the 30%-ruling is that investment income will -in general- not be subject to Dutch taxation (“box 3”).
As of 1st January 2024 the 30%-ruling has been changed to a 30%-20%-10% formula. The ruling still applies for a maximum amount of 5 years, but only the first 20 months the tax-free allowance can amount to a maximum of 30% of the taxable employment income. For the following 20 months the percentage is reduced to 20%, and the remaining 20 months to 10%. To know more about the changes from 1st January 2024 you can read the article by TTMTAX.
Important
The 30% ruling is only applicable if approved by the Tax Administration Authority (Belastingdienst) or a certified tax advisory firm. The employer and employee need to file a joint request to apply for the ruling. The request for the 30% ruling must be filed within 4 months after the start of employment. Requests that have not been filed within 4 months, will not have a retroactive effect from the start date of the employment. In that case, the 30%-ruling will only be applicable as of the month following the date of the request.
