30% Ruling for Indians Moving to the Netherlands

The quick answer

Indian nationals qualify for the Dutch 30% ruling on identical terms to any other foreign hire. Because most Indians come in on the kennismigrant (highly-skilled migrant) visa, you've already cleared one threshold: the IND minimum salary for kennismigrant in 2026 is set so that nearly everyone on this route also meets the 30% ruling threshold. The two are different tests, though, so don't assume one approval guarantees the other.

The 150 km rule and India

The 30% ruling requires that you lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before your first working day in the Netherlands. Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and every other Indian city sit well beyond 150 km from the Dutch border, so the rule is straightforwardly satisfied for anyone moving directly from India.

The complication is for Indians who spent time in Europe before the move:

• Master's in the UK, Ireland, or Scandinavia: usually qualifies, since most of those locations are more than 150 km from the Dutch border. London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Copenhagen, Stockholm: outside the zone.
• Master's in Aachen, Düsseldorf, or Antwerp: these sit inside the 150 km zone and can disqualify you if you lived there for too long during the 24-month window.
• Short business trips or training stints in NL: short visits do not count as living here, but longer stays do. If you lived in the Netherlands, or within 150 km of its border, for 8 months or more of the 24-month window, you cannot have lived more than 150 km away for more than 16 months, so the test fails.

Kennismigrant salary vs. 30% ruling salary

Two different thresholds, often confused:

• IND kennismigrant (2026): a minimum gross monthly salary set by the IND, in the range of roughly €5,700 if 30 or older and around €4,200 if under 30. IND adjusts these in January each year; check the current figure on ind.nl before relying on them.
• 30% ruling (2026): €48,013 taxable salary per year after the 30% deduction (≈ €68,590 gross for the full 30%), or €36,497 (≈ €52,139 gross for the full 30%) if under 30 with a Master's degree.

The two tests are independent. Meeting the IND minimum does not guarantee meeting the 30% ruling threshold, especially in the under-30 bracket where the figures are close. The Dutch Tax Authority tests the threshold at the level of taxable salary after the deduction. We compute the exact applicable percentage before submission so the math works.

PAN, Aadhaar, and Indian tax filings after the move

Becoming a Dutch tax resident doesn't end your Indian tax obligations automatically. The basic rules:

• Indian tax residency depends on day count. The standard rule: you're a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) for a financial year (April–March) if you're in India for less than 182 days that year AND you've been in India for less than 60 days in each of the preceding 4 financial years. A separate 120-day threshold applies if your India-source income exceeds INR 15 lakh in the financial year. Confirm with an Indian CA if this could be you.
• Your PAN stays valid. Don't cancel it. You'll still need it for Indian income you continue to earn (bank interest, dividends, capital gains on Indian shares). Acquiring a new tax residency may trigger reporting obligations under the relevant DTAA; that sits outside our scope.
• Aadhaar: retained for Indian banking and OCI processing. The Aadhaar–PAN linking requirement still applies even if you're abroad.
• Indian ITR filing: file your final resident-year ITR, then switch to filing as NRI if you have India-source income. The DTAA between India and the Netherlands prevents double taxation, but you have to claim it on each side.

None of this affects the 30% ruling application itself. The Dutch Tax Authority only cares about your Dutch employment situation.

Practical timeline for a typical Indian tech relocation

1. Offer signed, kennismigrant visa filed by your employer. IND processing is usually 2–4 weeks for sponsoring employers under the kennismigrant scheme.
2. Visa approval (MVV) issued. You collect it from the Dutch consulate in Mumbai or New Delhi.
3. You arrive in the Netherlands. The 4-month application clock for the 30% ruling starts on your first working day, not your arrival date. These are often a few days apart.
4. Register at the municipality office within 5 days. Bring an Apostille-legalized Indian birth certificate (India is not party to the EU public-documents regulation, so the apostille is genuinely required) plus an English translation. Larger expat-hub gemeenten (Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Eindhoven) often have dedicated expat-services desks; check the municipal website before your appointment.
5. Get your BSN and bank account. Most major Dutch banks have an English-language onboarding flow for expats.
6. File the 30% ruling application within 4 months of the first working day. Most people do this in the first weeks, once the BSN and address registration are in hand; the pre-filled form downloads right after payment.
7. Belastingdienst response. The Belastingdienst says it responds within 8 weeks of receiving the application. Once granted, your employer applies the ruling from your first day of work.

What changes from 2027

From 1 January 2027 the exemption is 27% for every ruling except the transitional group whose ruling was applied in payroll over the last pay period of 2023. A 2026 start gives you 30% for your 2026 months only; from 1 January 2027 the rate is 27% for the remaining months.

On an €85,000 salary a December 2026 start is worth about €80 more than a January 2027 start: one month at 30% instead of 27%. It is a one-month difference, not a five-year one.

Common Indian-specific edge cases

You did your Bachelor's and Master's in India, then took the job directly

For the under-30 reduced threshold, your Master's must be assessed as equivalent to a Dutch WO Master's. Indian Master's degrees go through IDW (Internationale Diplomawaardering) for credential evaluation. Degrees from IITs, NITs, IIITs, BITS, and a handful of top private universities are often assessed as WO-equivalent, but the outcome is never automatic. The credential evaluation goes in with your application.

You're moving from a US assignment

Indian-passport holders who spent the last few years in the US (H1B) qualify for the 30% ruling the same way. The 150 km rule is easily satisfied (the US is far from NL), and the time in the US counts as time outside NL for the 24-month look-back.

You're a contractor through a global EOR, not directly employed

The 30% ruling requires you to be on the payroll of a Dutch withholding agent (inhoudingsplichtige). A Dutch-registered EOR that is itself the inhoudingsplichtige on your payslip typically qualifies. If your contract runs through a non-Dutch payroll entity, even one that calls itself a "global EOR", you usually don't qualify even though the work happens in NL. The contract structure matters; we check this case by case.