30%-regeling / expatregeling
The 30% ruling: tax-free allowance for qualifying employees hired from abroad.
Every Dutch word you meet on tax letters, at the municipality, the doctor, the station or a birthday party, explained in one line. Search, or browse by topic.
The 30% ruling: tax-free allowance for qualifying employees hired from abroad.
Tax return. "Aangifte doen" means filing it.
Assessment: the Belastingdienst's decision on how much tax you owe or get back.
Optional extra insurance, for example dentist, physiotherapy or glasses.
Old-style paper payment slip, abolished in 2024; you may still see the word in letters.
General tax credit, for everyone, reduced as income rises.
A request to reduce an assessment after the objection period, possible up to five years back.
Periodic vehicle safety test (MOT) for cars over a certain age.
Pharmacy for prescription medicines. A drogist sells simple medicines and toiletries.
Labour tax credit, for income from work.
Employment contract, fixed-term (bepaalde tijd) or permanent (onbepaalde tijd).
Cargo bike, often with children in the front box.
Primary school, groups 1 to 8, from age 4 to 12.
Read more →Mandatory basic health insurance; the same cover at every insurer.
Read more →Taxable income, after deductions.
Interest charged or paid on tax that was settled late.
Appeal to the court, after an objection has been decided.
A formal decision letter, for example on your benefits.
Payment arrangement to pay in instalments.
Objection. Must be filed within six weeks of the date on the assessment.
Social assistance from the municipality for people without enough income or savings.
Private-use addition for a company car, added to taxable income.
Special flat payroll tax rate used for bonuses and holiday pay.
Credit registration office; loans and arrears are registered and checked by lenders.
Deposit. For new leases it may be at most two months' basic rent.
Informal drinks, with colleagues or friends, often with bitterballen.
Read more →Income from work and home / from a substantial shareholding (5%+) / from savings and investments.
Registration tax on a car when it is first registered in the Netherlands.
The population register kept by your municipality. Register within 5 days of arriving if you stay at least four months.
Binding study advice: a minimum of credits in year one, or you must leave the programme.
Citizen service number, your personal tax number.
Citizen service number: your personal ID number for government, employers, banks and doctors. You get it when you register at the municipality.
Read more →VAT, charged by businesses.
Collective labour agreement: sector-wide rules on pay, hours, holidays and pensions.
Final assessment, after your return has been checked.
An extra month's salary, usually in December, if your contract or cao provides it.
Your government login, needed for Mijn Belastingdienst.
Remembrance of the dead on 4 May, with two minutes of silence at 20:00.
Read more →"Just act normal": the Dutch dislike of showing off.
National test in group 8 that can raise the school advice, never lower it.
Read more →Executes student finance, tuition loans and the student travel product.
Read more →Senate: 75 members elected by the provincial councils; can only accept or reject laws.
Read more →Compulsory deductible: €385 in 2026; GP visits and under-18s excluded.
Read more →Your own main home, taxed in Box 1.
Notional income for owning your home, a percentage of the WOZ value.
Energy label from A++++ to G; required when selling or renting and worth rent points.
Inheritance tax, paid by the heir.
Tax partner, who can share deductions and Box 3 with you.
Notional return that Box 3 assumes you made.
Municipality: registration, passports, local taxes, permits, social assistance. There are 342 (2026).
Cosy, convivial, a good atmosphere; untranslatable and used all the time.
Read more →Chocolate sprinkles on bread, a breakfast staple.
Tax credit that reduces the tax you pay.
Tax-free allowance in Box 3.
GP, family doctor: the gatekeeper to specialist and hospital care.
Read more →GP out-of-hours service for evenings, nights and weekends.
Rent tribunal: rules on disputes about rent level, service costs and maintenance.
Read more →Rent allowance.
Mortgage interest deduction.
The Dutch online payment method, direct from your bank account.
Civic integration: language and society exams some non-EU newcomers must pass.
Read more →Direct debit. You can reverse most within 8 weeks via your bank.
Tapping in and out at the start and end of each trip; forgetting to check out costs a high fare.
Immigration and Naturalisation Service: residence permits, visas and naturalisation.
Credit for working parents with young children.
Land registry: records who owns which property and the mortgages on it.
Basic rent, without service charges or energy.
Child benefit paid by the SVB, not income-tested.
Childcare allowance.
Child-related budget, an income-tested payment per child.
King's Day on 27 April: orange clothes, street markets and parties.
Read more →Small business scheme that exempts businesses with up to €20,000 turnover from VAT.
Buyer pays the costs: transfer tax, notary and registry fees on top of the price.
Read more →Maternity home care in the first week after a birth, covered by basic insurance (with a small own contribution).
Compulsory education from 5 to 16; then qualification duty until 18.
Payroll tax: wage tax plus national insurance premiums withheld by your employer.
Tax credits applied through payroll. Only one employer or benefit provider should apply it.
Migration return for the year you arrive or leave / the standard return for residents.
Authorisation that lets someone else (partner, adviser) file for you.
Vocational training, universities of applied sciences, research universities.
Read more →Mid-rent sector, regulated since 1 July 2024: maximum €1,228.07 a month in 2026.
Personal government portal with a message box for official letters, and your personal data.
Profit exemption for small businesses.
Road tax for owning a vehicle.
Yearly card for free entry to hundreds of museums.
Read more →Additional assessment when too little tax was charged earlier.
Notice period. Employees usually give one month's notice.
Elderly tax credit, from state pension age.
Parental leave: 26 times your weekly hours per child until age 8, of which 9 weeks partly paid in the first year.
Travel card for public transport, anonymous or personal (needed for discounts).
Read more →NS rental bike available at most stations.
Property transfer tax paid when you buy a home.
Check in and out with your contactless bank card or phone on all public transport.
Read more →Municipal property tax.
Reference date; for Box 3 this is 1 January.
Paying by debit card. Many shops prefer it to cash; some do not accept cash at all.
Reaching decisions by consensus through long negotiation, after the polder model.
Read more →Third Tuesday of September: the King's speech and the budget and tax plan for next year.
Probation period: at most one month for contracts up to two years, two months for longer or permanent ones.
Province: one of 12, responsible for regional planning, nature and regional transport.
Points system that decides the maximum legal rent of a home: social up to 143, mid-rent 144 to 186 points.
Read more →Gift tax, paid by the recipient.
Service charges on top of the rent, for things like cleaning shared areas or furniture.
Saint Nicholas, celebrated with presents and poems on 5 December (pakjesavond).
Read more →Rush hour versus off-peak. Off-peak subscriptions give 40% discount on NS trains.
Transfer tax exemption for first-time buyers aged 18 to 34.
National portal where you apply for Dutch higher education.
Read more →Social Insurance Bank: pays AOW state pension and child benefit (kinderbijslag).
Read more →Reclaim of benefits you received but weren't entitled to.
A payment request link, used to split bills between friends.
Income-tested benefits from Dienst Toeslagen.
Income figure used to test eligibility for benefits (toeslagen).
House of Representatives: 150 members, directly elected, can amend and propose laws.
Read more →Extension of the filing deadline, or (uitstel van betaling) postponement of payment.
Official extract, for example from the population register, often requested by employers or the IND.
Hours criterion: at least 1,225 hours a year on your business for most self-employed deductions.
Employee insurance agency: unemployment (WW) and disability (WIA) benefits.
Read more →Holiday allowance, usually 8% of salary, paid once a year.
Referral letter from your GP to a specialist or hospital.
Total of your taxable income in all three boxes; used for tax credits and benefits.
The three secondary school levels: vocational (4 years), general (5), pre-university (6).
Read more →The pre-filled return with data the Belastingdienst already has.
Provisional assessment, an early estimate usually paid or refunded monthly.
Friday afternoon drinks (vrijdagmiddagborrel) at work.
Owners' association for an apartment building; owners pay a monthly contribution for maintenance.
Water board: manages dikes, water levels and water quality, and charges its own tax.
Actual return you really made.
Rule that reduces the tax on the eigenwoningforfait when you have little or no mortgage, being phased out.
Disability benefit after two years of illness.
Official property value set by your municipality each year.
Unemployment benefit: 75% of your daily wage for two months, then 70%, for 3 to 24 months.
Read more →Self-employed deduction for entrepreneurs meeting the hours criterion.
Healthcare allowance.
Self-employed person without staff (zelfstandige zonder personeel), a freelancer.
Read more →