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    Can I apply for the 30% facility if I come to work in the Netherlands?

    Yes, but only if you meet the conditions.

    You can read all about the 30% facility here.

    • What is the 30% facility?

      If you are coming to work in the Netherlands from another country you may experience higher cost of living than you are used to, for instance, because living expense here are higher than in your country. If so, your employer may compensate you for these so-called ‘extraterritorial costs’ tax-free. Your employer may also choose to pay you 30% of your salary, extraterritorial costs included, tax-free. This is the 30% facility.

      Read more under What are extraterritorial costs? And what not?

    • The 30% facility changes from 2024

      From 2024, your maximum untaxed compensation is €69,900. Your compensation will also no longer be a maximum of 30% of your salary over the whole term of your decision.

      Your maximum untaxed compensation is €69,900

      You will receive the maximum untaxed compensation of €69.900 if your salary is €233,000 or higher. And make use of the 30% rule for the entire year. If you only make use of the 30% facility for part of the year, your maximum compensation is lower. Calculate your maximum allowance time-proportionally, over the part of the year you make use of the 30% facility.

      If you are already making use of the 30% facility in 2022, this change will only come into effect for you on 1 January 2026. Read the requirements in the Nieuwsbrief Loonheffingen 2024 (Newsletter Payroll taxes 2024). Or ask for advice from your employer.

      Your maximum compensation is no longer 30% over the entire term

      From 1 January 2024, you are only entitled to a maximum compensation of 30% of your salary for the first 20 months of the term of your decision. The second twenty months you are entitled to 20%. And the third twenty months to 10%.

      If you already had a decision in 2023, you can still be entitled to a maximum untaxed compensation of 30%. Read the requirements in the Nieuwsbrief Loonheffingen 2024 (Newsletter Payroll taxes 2024). Or ask for advice from your employer.

    • Can I make use of the 30% facility?

      Yes, but only if you meet all of the following conditions:

    • When do I have a specific expertise?

      You have that expertise if your salary, not including the tax-free allowance in the Netherlands, is more than:
      • €46,107 in 2024
      • €41,954 in 2023
      • €39,467 in 2022

      You are younger than 30, and you have a Dutch academic master's degree

      Or have you obtained an equivalent title in another country? Then you have a specific expertise if your salary, not including the tax-free allowance in the Netherlands, is more than:
      • €35,048 in 2024
      • €31,891 in 2023
      • €30,001 in 2022

      Do you conduct scientific research?

      And do you conduct that research at a designated research facility? Or are you a doctor training to be a specialist? In that case, you can always make use of the 30% facility. The amount of your salary is not important.

    • I was recruited outside the Netherlands - what are the conditions?

      You are also recruited outside the Netherlands if you live on Aruba, the BES islands, Curacao or Sint Maarten.

      No 30% facility if you live in the border region

      You must have lived at a distance of more than 150 kilometres as the crow flies from the Dutch border for more than 16 months in the 24 months prior to your first working day in the Netherlands. You are not allowed to have lived in Belgium, Luxembourg and parts of Germany, France or the United Kingdom.

      I have worked in the Netherlands before

      Did you previously qualify for the 30% facility and then moved outside the Netherlands again? If so, this does not have to be more than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border, if you meet all the following conditions:

      • Your previous work period started maximally 5 years ago. Before 1 January 2021, your previous work period had to have started at least 8 years ago.
      • When your previous work started, you lived more than 16 of the 24 previous months 150 kilometres (as the crow flies) from the Dutch border.
      • During your previous work period, you had a valid decision for the 30% facility. Or you can make it plausible that, during your previous work period, you met the then applicable conditions for the 30% facility.

      Do you have a PhD or doctoral degree?

      You can make use of the 30% facility if, in the 24 months prior to the start of your PhD research in the Netherlands, you lived more than 16 of the 24 previous months 150 kilometres (as the crow flies) from the Dutch border.

      During your PhD research and between getting your PhD and the start of your work in the Netherlands, you are allowed to have lived in the Netherlands, or within a radius of 150 kilometres from the Dutch border.

    • How long is my decision valid?

      The date of issue of your decision determines the duration.

      Issued as of 1 January 2019

      our decision will be valid for a maximum of 5 years.

      Issued between 1 January 2012 and 1 January 2019

      Your decision has a maximum duration of 8 years, but due to a transitional arrangement, the end date on your decision may no longer be correct. You will not receive a new decision.

      Please check the following overview for the correct end date of your decision.

      Table duration 30% facility
      Your decision contains an end date: Correct end date is:
      2019 or 2020 the end date on your decision
      2021, 2022 or 2023 31 December 2020
      2024 or later the end date on your decision minus 3 years

      Shortened duration if you previously worked or resided in the Netherlands

      We will reduce the time period of the decision by the period in which you previously worked or resided in the Netherlands.

      In the following situations, we will not reduce the term:

      • You previously worked or resided in the Netherlands, and that period ended more than 25 years before the start of your current job.
      • You worked in the Netherlands occasionally during the past 25 years, but less than 20 days a year in total. For example, during a business trip from abroad.
      • In the past 25 years, you stayed in the Netherlands occasionally, for example for holidays, family visits or other personal circumstances. And this did not exceed a total of 6 weeks per year, or a one-off period of 3 consecutive months.

    • I am changing employers - what does that mean for the 30% facility?

      Are you changing employers within a connected group of withholding agents and do you also meet the conditions of the 30% facility with your new employer? Then your 30% facility decision will remain valid. You do not have to submit a new application. Please ask your employer if your new and your previous employer belong to the same connected group of withholding agents.

      New employer outside the connected group of withholding agents?

      Check together with your new employer whether your 30% facility decision can remain valid. This is possible if you start working for your new employer within 3 months after leaving your old job.

      Submit your application within 4 months after you started working for your new employer. Then you can use the 30% facility from the first working day at your new employer.

      Application for 30% facility

    • What are extraterritorial costs? And what not?

      Extraterritorial costs include:
      • extra costs of living, because the price in the Netherlands is higher than in the country you come from, for example extra expenses for meals, gas, water and electricity
      • costs for a familiarisation trip to the Netherlands, possibly with your family, for instance to look for a house or a school
      • fees for applying for or converting official personal papers, such as residence permits, visas and driving licences
      • costs for medical examinations and vaccinations for the stay in the Netherlands
      • double housing costs if you continue to live in your home country, e.g. hotel costs
      • the (initial) housing costs
        If you receive housing, only the (first) housing costs exceeding 18% of the wages from current employment are extraterritorial costs. The rest of the costs are wages. If you hire yourself, your employer may also apply the 18% calculation method to provide the excess tax-free. In general, you cannot get an untaxed reimbursement or allowance from your employer for furniture.
      • storage costs for the part of the estate that you are not moving to the Netherlands
      • travel costs to your home country, e.g. for family visits or family reunions
      • additional costs for having the income tax return filled in, if this is more expensive than having the return filled in by a comparable tax consultant in your country of origin. A maximum of €1,000 applies here.
      • language training costs for you and for family members staying with you
      • additional (non-business) call charges for calling your home country
      • the costs of an application for social security exemption, such as an A1 or E101 certificate of coverage

      No extraterritorial costs

      For costs that are not extraterritorial costs, your employer cannot give a tax-free reimbursement.

      No extraterritorial costs include:

      • expatriate allowances, bonuses and similar allowances (foreign service premium, expat allowance, overseas allowance)
      • capital losses
      • costs of buying and selling a house (reimbursement expenses purchase house, brokers fee)
      • compensation for higher tax rates in the country of employment (tax equalization)

    • Can I get a refund for school fees?

      In addition to the 30% facility, you can get a tax-free reimbursement from your employer for extraterritorial costs for school fees. It must concern an international school or an international department of a regular school. This is the case if:
      • the education at the (section of the) school concerned is based on a foreign system
      • the school or department is mainly intended for children of expatriate workers

    • What is partial foreign tax obligation?

      You can opt for partial foreign tax liability in your income tax return, if you live in the Netherlands and make use of the 30% facility. You are then a non-resident taxpayer for your taxable income from substantial interests (box 2) and your taxable income from savings and investments (box 3). This can be advantageous for you as you will pay tax on a lower taxable income in Box 2 and Box 3.

      You can be a partial non-resident taxpayer from the 1st day of the calendar year in which you choose to do so, but not before the 1st day you use the 30% facility.

    Apply for the 30% facility

    Do you meet all conditions? Then apply, together with your employer, for permission to use the 30% facility. Fill in the application and send it to us. You will receive a reply from us within 8 weeks.

    Application for 30% facility