30% Ruling Calculation Examples: What You Actually Keep at €60k, €80k and €100k

How the 30% ruling changes your payslip

The mechanic is simple once you see it laid out. Your employer splits your gross salary into two parts: up to 30% is paid as a tax-free reimbursement of "extraterritorial costs" (the theoretical extra cost of living and working outside your home country), and the remaining 70% or more is your normal taxable wage, taxed at the regular Dutch box 1 rates. You do not pay tax on the 30% portion at all. You pay tax on the rest, same as any other employee.

That taxable remainder has to clear the Belastingdienst's minimum threshold for the ruling to apply in the first place. For 2026 that minimum is €48,013 in taxable wage for the standard category, or €36,497 for employees under 30 with a recognised Master's degree. See the full 2026 threshold breakdown for how that number is set.

The figures below use the official 2026 box 1 rates: 35.75% up to €38,883, 37.56% from €38,883 to €78,426, and 49.50% above €78,426. They exclude the general tax credit and labour tax credit (heffingskortingen), which lower your actual tax bill further and depend on your total income and personal situation. Treat these as close estimates of the mechanic, not a final payslip number; see how the reimbursement actually shows on a payslip for the mechanic itself. For your exact figure, use our 30% ruling calculator, which runs the same rates and shows the estimate instantly for any gross salary you enter.

Example: €60,000 gross

This is the case where the threshold decides everything. At €60,000 gross, 70% (the taxable portion if the ruling applied) is €42,000. That clears the reduced under-30 threshold of €36,497, but it does not clear the standard threshold of €48,013.

The gap for the under-30 Master's route is roughly €6,761 a year, about €563 a month, entirely attributable to the ruling. Someone 30 or older, or without a qualifying master's, can still use the ruling at €60,000, but only with a reduced allowance of up to about €11,986 (19%), so the taxable wage stays just above €48,013. The gain is then about €4,502 a year instead of €6,761. €68,590 is the gross needed for the full 30%, not for the ruling itself.

Example: €80,000 gross

This is comfortably above the standard threshold (taxable wage would be €56,000, well past €48,013), so the full 30% applies without any category restriction.

Example: €100,000 gross

At this level, a meaningful chunk of income would otherwise sit in the top 49.50% bracket, which is exactly where the ruling's tax-free 30% does the most work.

The gap here is roughly €13,844 a year, about €1,154 a month. Notice that this is proportionally larger than the €80,000 case: without the ruling, €21,574 of the €100,000 would be taxed at 49.50%. With the ruling, none of it reaches that bracket at all, since the taxable wage of €70,000 stays under the €78,426 top-bracket line.

Side-by-side summary

*€60,000 figures are for the standard category with a reduced allowance of about 19% (taxable wage held just above €48,013). Someone under 30 with a recognised Master's degree gets the full 30% allowance instead, netting about €44,930 a year, a gain of about €6,761. Figures generated with the same 2026 model as the calculator; tax credits excluded.

Why the threshold matters more at lower salaries

The three examples show an asymmetry worth understanding before you assume the ruling is "worth 30% of your salary." It never is, exactly, and at the lower end of the qualifying range it is an all-or-nothing gate rather than a sliding scale.

• At or below the taxable-wage norm for your category, there is no ruling at all. A salary that produces a taxable wage at or under €48,013 (standard) or €36,497 (under-30 Master's) does not qualify. Between that norm and the gross salary where the full 30% applies, roughly €68,590 (standard) or €52,139 (under-30 Master's), the allowance is reduced so the taxable wage stays above the norm.
• Just above the threshold, the euro value of the ruling is smaller in absolute terms, simply because 30% of a smaller number is a smaller number, even though the relative tax saving can still be meaningful.
• Well above the threshold, the ruling's value grows faster than salary, because it increasingly shields income from the 49.50% top bracket rather than the 35.75% or 37.56% brackets.

If your offer is close to the threshold, run the exact numbers rather than estimating from these examples. Our salary threshold edge cases post covers part-time work, variable bonuses, and other situations that shift the calculation.

What happens above €262,000

There is also a ceiling. The 30% exemption only applies to gross salary up to the Balkenende norm, which is €262,000 for 2026. Above that, the excess is taxed at the normal rate with no exemption. Someone earning €350,000 gross gets the 30% treatment on the first €262,000 only; the remaining €88,000 is fully taxable. The Belastingdienst confirms the 2026 maximum tax-free reimbursement is €78,600 (30% of €262,000). This rarely affects the salary range in this article's examples, but it matters for senior hires and executives.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the 30% ruling actually save me per month?

It depends on your gross salary and category. In the 2026 estimates above, at €60,000 it is roughly €375/month for the standard category (reduced allowance) or €563/month under the under-30 Master's route (full allowance); it is €767/month at €80,000, and €1,154/month at €100,000. The saving grows faster than salary because higher earners would otherwise pay more of their income at the 49.50% top rate.

Is the 30% ruling calculated on gross or net salary?

On gross salary. Your employer takes 30% of your gross pay as a tax-free reimbursement and taxes the remaining 70% (or more, if you choose a lower percentage) at normal box 1 rates. The salary threshold test is then applied to that remaining taxable portion, not to your gross figure.

Do these examples include the general tax credit and labour tax credit?

No. The estimates exclude heffingskortingen (the general tax credit and labour tax credit), which reduce your actual tax bill further and depend on your total income and personal circumstances. They will make your real net figure somewhat higher than shown here. Use the calculator for a personalised estimate.

Does a €60,000 salary qualify for the 30% ruling?

Yes, but the allowance depends on your category. Under 30 with a recognised Master's degree, €60,000 clears the reduced threshold and gets the full 30% allowance. In the standard category, €60,000 still qualifies, but only with a reduced allowance of up to about 19% (around €11,986), because the taxable wage must stay above €48,013; the full 30% allowance for the standard category needs a gross salary of roughly €68,590.

Why is the gain bigger at €100,000 than at €80,000, even though both are well above the threshold?

Because without the ruling, a larger share of the €100,000 salary would be taxed at the top 49.50% bracket. The 30% ruling shields exactly the income that would otherwise sit in that bracket, so the euro benefit grows faster than the salary itself once you are well clear of the threshold.