30% Ruling Tax Reimbursement: What Is Actually Reimbursed (2026)
What "reimbursement" really means
In Dutch wage tax law, the 30% allowance is a gerichte vrijstelling, a targeted exemption for extraterritorial costs (art. 31a lid 2 onderdeel e jo. lid 8 Wet LB 1964, worked out in the forfait of art. 10ea UB LB 1965). It compensates for costs the law assumes an international employee incurs by working outside their home country: a higher cost of living, travel back home, dual housing, and similar items. Rather than requiring receipts for every cost, the law lets the employer pay up to 30% of the relevant wage as a flat, tax-free allowance instead.
That is the entire mechanic. There is no separate Belastingdienst payment, no annual claim form, no refund arriving after your income tax return. The Belastingdienst grants the beschikking (the decision letter) that authorises the arrangement; your employer then applies it in payroll for as long as the ruling runs, up to 60 months.
The exemption only applies if the employer actively designates the 30% amount as an eindheffingsbestanddeel (a gerichte vrijstelling) in payroll. Without that designation, there is no exemption, even with a valid beschikking in hand (Hof Amsterdam 28 October 2021, ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2021:4309). If your payslip does not show the allowance clearly, ask payroll to confirm it has been designated correctly.
How it shows on a payslip: a worked example
Take a gross salary of €80,000 in 2026. The employer and employee sign an addendum splitting the contractual salary into a 70% taxable portion and a 30% tax-free allowance. Taxable wage becomes €56,000; the tax-free allowance is €24,000. Both amounts appear on the payslip every period, but only the €56,000 is run through the normal box 1 wage-tax tables.
| Item | Amount (annual) |
|---|---|
| Gross salary under the addendum | €80,000 |
| Taxable wage (70%) | €56,000 |
| Tax-free allowance (30%, gerichte vrijstelling) | €24,000 |
Applying the 2026 box 1 brackets (35.75% to €38,883; 37.56% from €38,883 to €78,426; 49.50% above) to the €56,000 taxable wage gives an estimated tax of roughly €20,330. Without the ruling, the full €80,000 would be taxed and the estimated tax rises to roughly €29,530 (see the worked calculation examples for the full method). This is an estimate: it excludes the general tax credit and labour tax credit (heffingskortingen), which lower the real tax bill further and depend on personal circumstances. Use the calculator for a figure based on your own salary.
Every pay period, the €24,000 tax-free allowance is spread across the year (roughly €2,000 a month in this example) and paid alongside the taxable wage, with no wage tax withheld on that part. That is the entire "reimbursement": a recurring, tax-free line on the payslip, not a lump sum from the Belastingdienst.
Gross-up vs. the addendum method
Employers apply the 30% allowance in one of two common ways, and the difference matters for what ends up in your bank account.
- The addendum (by far the most common): the contractual gross salary is reduced to 70/100 of the original figure, and 30/70 of that reduced amount is paid on top as the tax-free allowance. Total cash paid out stays roughly equal to the original contractual salary; what shifts is how much of it is taxable (Besluit 23 August 2013, vraag 18; KG:204:2023:21).
- Gross-up: the employer pays up to 30/70 of the taxable salary as tax-free allowance on top of that same taxable salary (so the allowance is 30% of salary plus allowance combined), not 30% of the unreduced gross figure. This costs the employer more than the addendum and increases total cash paid to the employee, but it is used less often in practice.
Ask your employer which method applies to your contract; it changes the numbers on your payslip even though the underlying tax mechanic (a gerichte vrijstelling on up to 30%) is identical either way.
What the base includes and excludes
The 30% is calculated on wage from present employment (loon uit tegenwoordige dienstbetrekking), which is broader than base salary alone.
- Included: base salary, bonuses, and equity compensation attributable to the Dutch work period. Options granted for work performed in the Netherlands stay within the base even if they vest after the employee has emigrated (HR 27 April 2012, ECLI:NL:HR:2012:BU8932). See our stock options and RSU guide for the detail.
- Excluded: pension payments and severance payments. These fall outside "wage from present employment" under settled case law (HR 25 January 2008, ECLI:NL:HR:2008:BB3438) and never carry a 30% allowance.
Applying for the beschikking itself is not taxable wage, so the application process has no payroll consequence before the ruling is granted (KG:204:2022:16).
Knock-on effects: pension, holiday allowance, mortgage
Because the addendum method reduces the contractual taxable salary, several things calculated off that lower number can shrink too. In many pension schemes, pensionable salary is based on the taxable wage, not the full original salary, so pension accrual can be lower under an addendum than it would be on an unreduced salary. The same applies to holiday allowance and the wage base used for WW/WIA social security benefits: both are commonly calculated on the reduced taxable wage.
Mortgage capacity is affected too. Dutch mortgage lenders that recognise the 30% ruling typically gross up part of the tax-free allowance for affordability calculations, but the exact treatment varies by lender and is not guaranteed. None of these effects are automatic or identical across employers and pension funds. Check with your own employer, pension fund, and mortgage advisor for how your specific scheme handles it; this article describes the general mechanic, not your personal numbers.
Retroactive correction when the beschikking comes late
The Belastingdienst's own service standard is a decision within roughly 8 to 10 weeks in practice, though this is not a fixed statutory term. Payroll usually cannot wait that long, so many employers run the full salary through ordinary tax while the application is pending.
When the beschikking is filed within 4 months of the first working day, it applies retroactively to that start date once granted. If earlier pay periods were taxed in full because the decision had not yet arrived, the employer corrects those periods afterward under the Besluit correctie 30%-regeling (BWBR0049189, in force since 2024), refunding the difference through payroll rather than through the Belastingdienst. This correction is a payroll adjustment your employer makes, not a claim you file yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Belastingdienst pay me the 30% ruling money directly?
No. The Belastingdienst grants the beschikking that authorises the arrangement, but the tax-free allowance is paid by your employer through normal payroll, not sent to you separately by the tax authority.
Is the reimbursement taxed at all?
No, up to 30% of the relevant wage is exempt from Dutch wage tax as a gerichte vrijstelling, provided the employer has correctly designated it in payroll. The remaining 70% (or more, on a lower percentage) is taxed at normal box 1 rates.
Does my bonus get the 30% treatment too?
Generally yes, variable pay such as bonuses forms part of wage from present employment and is included in the base the 30% is calculated on, alongside base salary and Dutch-work-period equity.
Why does my payslip show a lower taxable salary than my contract states?
Most employers use the addendum method: your contractual gross salary is reduced to 70% for tax purposes, and the other 30% is paid as a separate tax-free line. Total cash pay stays close to your original contract figure; only the taxable portion is lower.
See your own numbers
Enter your gross salary in our calculator for an instant, personalised estimate of the taxable wage and tax-free allowance split, then order the pre-filled form for €12.10 incl. VAT and submit it yourself.