The 30% ruling (30%-regeling) is one of the most valuable benefits the Netherlands offers to attract international talent. In simple terms, it allows eligible foreign workers to receive 30% of their gross salary completely tax-free. For mid-to-high earners, the annual saving can easily reach between €5,000 and €15,000.
What it actually means
The 30%-regeling is based on the principle that a foreign worker incurs extra costs when relocating to the Netherlands: trips home, moving expenses, cost-of-living differences. Instead of justifying each expense, the law allows a flat-rate 30% deduction from gross salary, exempt from income tax.
In practice: if you earn €80,000 gross, you only pay income tax on €56,000. Given that the top Dutch income tax rate reaches 49.5%, the saving can be very significant. You can also apply for partial non-resident taxpayer status during the ruling period, which limits taxation on certain foreign-held assets.
Eligibility requirements
There are three main criteria. First, you must have been recruited from abroad or transferred by a foreign company — it does not apply if you were already living in the Netherlands. Second, you must have specialist expertise or skills scarce in the Dutch labour market, verified through a minimum salary threshold of €46,107 gross per year in 2024 (or €35,048 for those under 30 with a master's degree).
Third, the distance rule: in the 24 months before being recruited, you must have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for at least 16 of those 24 months. This mainly affects Belgian and German border residents. For people from Spain, Italy, or Latin America, this criterion is rarely an issue.
Critical deadlines: what many people miss
This is the most delicate point: you have exactly four months from your first working day in the Netherlands to file the joint application — both employee and employer — with the Belastingdienst (tax authority). If you apply later, the ruling only takes effect from the application date, meaning you lose all the months in between retroactively.
Once granted, the ruling lasts five years from 2024 onwards (previously seven). This means if you start working in the Netherlands at 35, you benefit from this tax advantage until you are 40. Once the period expires, standard taxation resumes without exception.