What Is The Expat Ruling?

A simple guide for expats

The Dutch Expat Ruling — formerly known as the 30% ruling — is a tax benefit for highly skilled employees recruited from abroad. It allows employers to pay part of your salary tax-free to compensate for the extra costs of relocating to the Netherlands.

Today, that allowance is still 30%, reducing your effective tax rate from 49.5% to around 34.65%. From 2027, the allowance will decrease to 27%, with further adjustments expected.

The new name — Expat Ruling — reflects this more flexible structure.

Here’s what expats need to know.

Who Can Get the Expat Ruling?

1. You work in the Netherlands and are taxable here

If you are on a Dutch payroll (or a foreign employer registered for Dutch wage tax), you may qualify. This includes expats who work for their own Dutch BV, as they are deemed employees.

2. You were recruited from abroad

You must have lived outside the Netherlands when your employment contract was agreed. The tax authorities will check:

• when you entered the Netherlands

• when your contract was signed

• recruitment communication

If you already lived in the Netherlands at that time, the ruling may be denied.

3. You lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border

For at least 16 of the 24 months before starting work.

This excludes many employees from nearby regions in Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg.

You may need to provide:

• rental agreements

• bank statements

• utility bills as proof of residence

4. You meet the minimum salary requirement

You must have “specific expertise,” tested via an annually updated salary threshold. Different thresholds apply to:

• regular employees

• younger workers

• scientific researchers / PhD graduates

Meeting the threshold = meeting the expertise test.

How to Apply

The employee and employer must file a joint request with the Dutch tax authorities. If submitted within 4 months, the ruling can apply retroactively from your first working day.

The maximum duration is 60 months, reduced by earlier periods of stay or work in the Netherlands.

What Are the Main Benefits?

1. A tax-free allowance on part of your salary

With the current 30% rate, your employer may pay 30% tax-free.From 2027, this becomes 27%.

2. Optional partial non-resident status

Until 1 January 2025, while living in the Netherlands, you had the option to choose to be treated as a partial non-resident for income tax. This could protect you from Dutch tax on:

• foreign savings and investments

• non-Dutch real estate

• certain types of passive income
  

This was valuable for expats with international assets. Now only existing users of the expat ruling can apply the partial non-resident status until maximum the end of 2026.

3. Exchange your foreign driver’s license

Expats with the ruling can often swap their foreign license for a Dutch one without exams — especially useful for non-EU nationals.

Pro Tips for Expats

• Apply early: File within 4 months to secure retroactive effect.

• Keep proof of foreign residence: Necessary for the 150 km rule.

• Changing jobs? You can keep the ruling if the gap is under 3 months and you reapply.

• Document everything: Contracts, arrival dates, proof of residence — the tax office will check.

• Check your salary threshold: Bonuses count toward the requirement.

Apply For Your Ruling