In the Netherlands, everyone pays tax on their income. This tax is called income tax.
Income tax is a tax you pay on money you earn. We also call this a tax on your income. Everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands must file a tax return. You might also have to do this if you have income from the Netherlands but you live in another country.
Filing a tax return means reporting how much money you have earned. You can do this in four different ways, depending on the tax year:
After you have filed your tax return, you will be sent a letter: your income tax assessment. This letter tells you:
You will also be informed about this through Mijn Belastingdienst or in your message box on MijnOverheid.
If you disagree with the tax assessment, you can make an objection. Visit the Belastingdienst website and search for ‘objection, appeal and complaints’.
If you are unable to pay your income tax on time, you can request a postponement of payment. You must do so before the payment deadline. In some cases, you are allowed to postpone payment if you will get money back from Belastingdienst in the near future.
To find out more about tax on income in the Netherlands, visit belastingdienst.nl.
Income tax is tax you pay on your wages and your home (box 1), on profits from shareholdings (box 2), and on savings and investments (box 3).
If you live and work in the Netherlands, you must file a tax return every year to report your income. You will then receive a tax assessment that tells you whether you have to pay tax or will get a tax refund.
The tax on your wages is calculated in box 1. The brackets for people below state pension age for 2026 are as follows:
Your employer will usually deduct payroll tax in advance. At the end of the year, Belastingdienst checks how much you tax have to pay in total and subtracts the tax you have already paid from that amount.
A tax credit is a reduction of the amount of tax you have to pay. There are several types:
Many tax credits are settled automatically through your wages or benefits. For some tax credits, you have to state that you have a right to that particular tax credit.
This website uses cookies. Read more about cookies in our cookieverklaring.
These cookies never collect personal data and are necessary for the correct functioning of the website.
These cookies collect data so that we gain insight into the use and can further improve this website.
Deze cookies worden gebruikt om statistieken te meten over het gebruik van de website (bijvoorbeeld via Google Analytics, Siteimprove of Matomo) en voor externe videodiensten zoals YouTube of Vimeo. Hiervoor maken wij gebruik van diensten van derde partijen. Deze cookies worden alleen geplaatst na jouw toestemming.
Jouw keuze aanpassen? Dat kan op elk moment via de cookie-instellingen in de footer.