30% Ruling Eligibility 2026: Who Qualifies (Expatregeling)

Bottom line up front: you qualify for the Dutch 30% ruling (officially the expatregeling) when you are recruited from abroad, lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border before your first working day, have skills that are scarce on the Dutch labour market — proven mainly through a minimum salary — and your employer applies jointly with you to the Belastingdienst. For 2025 and 2026 the tax-free share stays at 30%; from 1 January 2027 it drops to a flat 27%. This guide walks through each condition so you can check yourself before applying.

What the expatregeling actually gives you

The ruling lets your Dutch employer pay part of your gross salary as a tax-free reimbursement for the extra costs of relocating and working abroad — without you having to prove a single receipt. For 2025 and 2026 that share is up to 30% of your salary. From 1 January 2027 it becomes a flat 27% for the whole remaining duration of the ruling.

Because the reimbursement is untaxed, it lowers your effective income tax meaningfully. Dutch employment income is taxed in box 1, where the top bracket reaches 49.50% on income above €78,426 in 2026, so a tax-free slice at the margin is valuable. The ruling is a facility your employer holds and applies — it is not something you claim yourself on your annual return.

It is separate from the highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant) residence permit. The two often run together, but each has its own test: the permit is immigration law, the ruling is tax law. You can hold one without the other.

The core eligibility conditions

Four conditions do most of the work. You need to meet all of them.

1. Recruited or transferred from abroad. You must be hired from another country or seconded to a Dutch employer, rather than already living and job-hunting inside the Netherlands.

2. The 150 km rule. In the two years before your first working day, you must have lived more than 150 kilometres in a straight line from the Dutch border for at least 16 of the previous 24 months. This is why residents of Belgium, Luxembourg, and large parts of western Germany and northern France usually do not qualify — they live inside the 150 km band. Distance is measured from your home to the nearest point on the border.

3. Specific expertise (the salary norm). Rather than assessing your CV, the Belastingdienst tests “scarce expertise” almost entirely through a minimum taxable salary. Your salary after the tax-free reimbursement must stay above an annual threshold that is indexed every year, with a lower threshold for employees under 30 who hold a Dutch master’s degree (or a recognised foreign equivalent). Because these amounts are re-indexed each January, always confirm the exact figure for your start year with the Belastingdienst rather than relying on last year’s number.

4. A valid employment relationship and joint application. There must be a genuine Dutch employer withholding payroll taxes, and the employer and employee apply together. Apply within four months of your start date and the ruling can take effect from day one; apply later and it starts from the month after approval.

Duration, the 30% to 27% change, and grandfathering

The maximum duration is five years (60 months). Periods you previously spent living or working in the Netherlands are deducted from that maximum, so earlier stays shorten the clock.

On the rate, three groups matter:

• New rulings in 2025 and 2026 get 30% now and will move to the flat 27% from 1 January 2027 for their remaining months.
• From 2027 onward, every ruling runs at a flat 27%, and the salary norm rises (a higher general threshold and a higher under-30 master’s threshold). Those 2027 euro amounts are indexed — verify them with the Belastingdienst before you rely on them.
• Grandfathered recipients — anyone who first received the allowance by December 2023 — keep the 30% rate and the older salary norm under transitional rules for the rest of their term.

So the practical read for 2026: if you start this year you enjoy 30% for 2025–2026 and shift to 27% in 2027, while the small pre-2024 group keeps 30% throughout.

Common situations that trip people up

A few edge cases come up constantly:

• Changing employers. The ruling is tied to the job. If you switch employers you can usually keep the remaining term, but the new employer must re-apply and the gap between jobs must be short (broadly within three months).
• Salary dropping below the norm. If your taxable salary falls under the threshold in any year — for example after unpaid leave or a move to part-time — you can lose the ruling for that year. The norm is tested annually.
• PhD and recent-graduate cases. People who did a PhD or studied in the Netherlands have special sub-rules on both the 150 km test and the salary norm; check these individually.
• Partial-year starts. The salary norm is applied pro-rata for the months you actually worked.

If you are also setting up your own Dutch company, note that the ruling applies to employment income, so structuring it usually means running proper payroll — see how the 30% ruling fits alongside a Dutch employer, and use our DGA salary tool to sense-check director pay levels.

How to check yourself in five minutes

Run through this quick self-test:

1. Were you recruited from abroad (not already living in the Netherlands)?
2. Did you live more than 150 km from the Dutch border for most of the two years before starting?
3. Will your taxable salary clear the indexed norm for your start year (or the under-30 master’s norm)?
4. Do you have a real Dutch employer running payroll?
5. Can you and the employer file the joint application within four months of day one?

Five yeses means you very likely qualify. If any answer is uncertain — especially the salary norm, which changes yearly — get it confirmed before you sign an employment contract that assumes the ruling. Because these figures are indexed and the rate steps down to 27% in 2027, treat every euro amount here as something to verify at the moment you apply.