DIY or pay someone? Honest comparison.

The two options

	DIY	Self-Service (€12.10)
Cost	€0	€12.10 incl. VAT
Your time	Reading the form notes, gathering documents, filling it in by hand	10-minute intake, optional contract upload
Form language	Official English form, free from the Belastingdienst	Pre-filled from your documents, cover letter included
Threshold check	Your responsibility	Checked automatically against the 2026 thresholds
Edge cases (prior NL visits, gap years, partial non-resident)	Risk of mistake	Flagged, you decide
Submission	You file	You file (with the cover letter and submission guide)
No cure, no pay guarantee	N/A	Full refund if not granted
Official response time	Within 8 weeks of receipt (official term), whoever files	Within 8 weeks of receipt (official term), whoever files

When DIY is fine

Filing it yourself is a reasonable choice if you have time and a clean case. The Dutch Tax Authority form is available in English (LH 598-1Z61FOL ENG) and they will process a complete, correct submission.

• You are comfortable reading the official English guidance.
• Your case is textbook: you lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for the last 2 years, you weren't in the Netherlands in any meaningful way recently, your salary is well above the threshold, and you have a normal employment contract starting on a clean date.
• You have the time, in the first weeks of your move, to read the form notes and fill it in by hand, on top of housing, banking and municipal registration.
• You're confident about the 4-month deadline. Missing it costs you months of savings.

When the €12.10 Self-Service pays for itself

If your case is straightforward but you don't want to spend an evening on a Dutch tax form, the Self-Service form hands you a filled and checked form to download right after payment, with submission instructions. You can optionally upload your employment contract and we read the details from it, then you print, sign, and post the result to the Dutch Tax Authority yourself. The €12.10 buys you the filled form and the threshold math, checked before you pay.

Cases worth double-checking before you file

Some situations trip people up whether they file themselves or use us. Our free eligibility check flags these before you pay, so you know where you stand:

• You've spent time in the Netherlands in the last 25 years (studies, secondments, even long holidays).
• You're changing employers and want to keep the ruling. The continuation rules are strict.
• Your start date sits near a year boundary and you might be hit by the 2027 phase-down to 27%.
• Your salary is close to the threshold, or you're under 30 and your Master's degree is from outside the EEA.

The €12.10 service carries a no cure, no pay guarantee: if the Dutch Tax Authority does not grant your ruling, you get a full refund, whatever the reason. See the full guarantee terms.

What it doesn't depend on

A few things people worry about that don't actually matter:

• Response speed. The Belastingdienst's stated term is a response within 8 weeks of receipt, whoever files. Paying us does not change that.
• Approval. The Belastingdienst applies the same criteria whichever route you take; we have no separate channel. What we do is reduce the chance of a rejection for something fixable (wrong start date, unsigned employer section, miscalculated norm).
• The benefit itself. The 30% (or 27% from 2027) exemption is identical whether you file yourself or use us. Your savings depend on your salary, not on how you applied.