The “crocus” spring holiday is over, lighter days are returning and temperatures are rising. That means one thing: it’s time to do your 2024 tax return!

Although the tax office opens officially for early filing in March, Blue Umbrella tax advisors say now is the perfect time to sort through your accounts for last year.

“We say start right away: don’t wait!” said a Blue Umbrella tax spokesman. “We can help you already. But, whatever you do, do it before May 1 because then you will get any money back as soon as possible from the Dutch government and you can spend it on your holidays!”

While freelancers and business owners of course need to file a self-assessment tax return, anyone with property or savings plus those who arrived or left the Netherlands in 2024, should do their research.

Mortgage tax break

If you have a mortgage on a Dutch property where you live, you will be entitled to a tax break on some of the mortgage interest (and some of the costs of buying). Meanwhile, if you have savings or investments and are tax resident in the Netherlands, you need to declare them all for Dutch wealth tax.

Also important: if 2024 was your migration year and you arrived in the Netherlands or left the country, you will probably have paid tax on any income as though you would have been in the country for the whole year. “You will not get an invitation, but you can still apply for a refund,” points out the spokesman.

Although international-serving businesses like Blue Umbrella saw fewer highly-skilled immigrants arriving in the Netherlands in 2024, emigration reached a new peak. When you are tying up your Dutch affairs, it’s important to remember that the Dutch government will not automatically pay back any overpaid revenue. It’s up to you to claim it.

If you think you won’t make the tax deadline of May 1, you can ask for a free extension until September (while employing an accountant typically gives you a year to do it). If the tax office owes you a refund, it will add interest when it pays out – but, equally, if you have tax to pay and you pay late, this will accrue interest.

Box 3

A series of high court rulings have challenged Dutch tax office “fictitious” estimates of the amount people make on their savings and assets and the situation for so-called Box 3 is currently unclear. Currently, there is a tax-free threshold of €57,000 per person, double this for a fiscal partnership, and if you think you have made less than this, then you don’t need to do anything.

Otherwise, it would be wise to start keeping records of how much you have actually made on your assets and savings because if this is less than the assumed amount, you will be entitled to a refund.

“At the moment, the government doesn’t know what you will have to deliver, so I would advise filling in the forms, waiting to see what happens, and you can always make an appeal at a later stage,” said the Blue Umbrella advisor.

“Remember that you have to declare worldwide assets in banks and savings accounts too.”

30% ruling and partial tax exemption

The 30% ruling – giving 110,000 immigrants with scarce skills 30% of their salary tax-free for five years – will reduce to 27% from 2027. From 2027, the minimum salary for the ruling will be raised to just over €50,000 for normal staff and to just over €38,000 for staff under 30 with a master’s diploma.

Anyone who had the 30% ruling and also used a partial tax exemption for foreign assets at the end of 2023 can continue to use this tax break until 2026. For new, highly-skilled immigrants, the partial wealth tax exemption stops in 2025 – although some accountants have raised concerns that this might have negative effects for expats from India and the United States.

Although the Dutch parliament voted to reduce the 30% tax perk in 2023, this did not actually take place after Dutch businesses such as football clubs complained that they could not afford the price of foreign talent without a government tax break.

Averaging

One thing to watch out for this year: this will be the last time that you can average your income across three years to flatten the effects of a high salary one year. When you have your definitive tax return from 2024, you can work out which combination of years it is best to use: they must be consecutive years and must include either 2020, 2021 or 2022.

“One of these years must be included, otherwise it’s not possible to use averaging,” says the Blue Umbrella exeprt. “But you can already calculate if it is beneficial to do, while you wait for your final assessment.”

Self employment

The tax office will be monitoring self-employment more closely from 2025, so as you draw up last year’s accounts, consider your client base this year and whether you fulfil the conditions for being a freelancer (or ZZP-er).

Although small businesses are the most productive part of the economy in places like Denmark and the UK, the Netherlands is cracking down on “sham” self-employment and the number of sole traders is declining.

If you owe tax, the Belastingdienst will soon let you know about it – but you need to be sharp to get back any overpayments last year. “Get your tax done!” said the Blue Umbrella expert. “Get your money back, because they don’t just pay it back themselves!”

Contact Blue Umbrella for cost-efficient tax filing services and all of your tax questions