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In the Netherlands, you don't only pay tax on your salary. If you have a lot of savings or investments, you also pay a yearly tax on them. This tax is called box 3. Once you live here, it counts for everything you own, all over the world: your savings account back home, shares in another country, crypto, and a flat you rent out abroad. Many expats only find out when they fill in their first full tax return. This guide explains, from the start, what box 3 is, how the tax is worked out, what is different for expats, and how you can sometimes pay less.
The idea in simple words
The Dutch tax office splits your income into three "boxes". Box 1 is for money from work and your own home. Box 2 is for people who own a big part of a company. Box 3 is for your savings and investments.
For box 3, the tax office doesn't ask what your money really earned. Instead, it assumes your money earned a fixed percentage, called the deemed return, and taxes that. For example, it assumes your savings earned 1.28% and your shares earned 6%.
The first €59,357 you own is free of this tax. And if your money really earned less than the tax office assumes, you can show your actual return and pay less.
The most important facts (2026)
- Who pays: people who live in the Netherlands, on what they own all over the world. The tax office looks at what you owned on 1 January.
- Tax-free amount: the first €59,357 per person is free of tax. For Your husband or wife, registered partner, or in some cases a partner you live with. Tax partners can share some tax benefits. together it's €118,714.
- The The return the tax office assumes your money made, set by the government each year. It is not what you really earned. In Dutch: forfaitair rendement.: 1.28% on money in the bank, 6.00% on investments and other things you own, and 2.70% taken off for debts above €3,800.
- Tax rate: 36% of the deemed return, only on the part of what you own above the tax-free amount.
- Actual return: if your money really earned less, you can fill that in on your tax return. The tax office then uses whatever is cheaper for you.
- 30% ruling: this tax benefit for expats no longer keeps your foreign savings out of box 3. There is one transition rule, and it ends with the tax return for 2026.
What counts in box 3
If you live in the Netherlands, you are a Someone who lives in the Netherlands for tax purposes. You pay Dutch tax on your income and wealth from the whole world.. Each year you tell the tax office about everything you owned on 1 January, wherever in the world it is. Each type of thing gets its own deemed return:
| Type | Examples | Deemed return 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Money in the bank | Everyday and savings accounts in the Netherlands and abroad, and savings you've locked away for a fixed time | 1.28% (not final yet) |
| Other things you own | Shares, Exchange-traded funds: a basket of many shares or bonds that you buy in one go, like a ready-made mix. and funds, A loan you give to a company or government. They pay you interest and give the money back later., crypto, a second home or a home you rent out (in the Netherlands or abroad), money you lent to someone, some life insurance policies | 6.00% |
| Debts | Student loans (Dutch and foreign), personal loans, a A loan from a bank to buy a home, paid back over many years. on a second home or on a home abroad. Only the part above €3,800 per person counts. | 2.70% (not final yet), taken off |
Not in box 3: the home you live in and its mortgage (those are in box 1), your car and the things in your home, money saved in a Dutch pension scheme, and owning 5% or more of a company (that is box 2). Savings or investments in approved projects that are good for the environment, such as wind farms. In Dutch: groene beleggingen. are tax-free up to €26,715 per person. The percentages for bank money and debts are not final for 2026 yet. They will be fixed in early 2027.
How the tax is worked out
It looks complicated, but it's just five steps:
- Work out the deemed return for each type: money in the bank × 1.28%, plus other things you own × 6.00%, minus debts above €3,800 × 2.70%.
- Add up everything you own and take away your debts. The Dutch call this total your rendementsgrondslag.
- Take away the tax-free amount of €59,357. What's left is the part that gets taxed.
- Divide the part that gets taxed by the total from step 2. This gives you the share of your deemed return that is taxed.
- Multiply the deemed return by that share. You pay 36% of the result.
Example: a single expat with €100,000
On 1 January 2026, Maria has €70,000 in savings (some in the Netherlands, some in her home country) and €30,000 in ETFs. She has no tax partner and no debts.
| Deemed return: €70,000 × 1.28% + €30,000 × 6.00% | €896 + €1,800 = €2,696 |
| Part that gets taxed: €100,000 − €59,357 | €40,643 |
| Share taxed: €40,643 ÷ €100,000 | 40.64% |
| Taxable return: €2,696 × 40.64% | €1,095 |
| Box 3 tax: 36% | about €394 |
So Maria pays about €394 a year. If she had a tax partner, they could share the tax-free amount of €118,714. Then €100,000 between them would cost nothing in box 3. Tax partners can split the taxed part between them in any way they like.
What's different for expats
Your foreign assets count, and the tax office knows about them
People often forget accounts and investments abroad on their first tax return. But more than 100 countries automatically send the Dutch tax office information about accounts that Dutch residents have there. If you leave them out, you can get an extra tax bill and a fine. Change foreign money into euros using the exchange rate on 1 January.
Property abroad: you list it, but you usually don't pay tax on it twice
A house or flat you own in another country is part of box 3, at the price it would sell for. Usually, the country where the home is may tax it. So the Netherlands gives you a discount to stop you paying tax twice on the same thing. In practice, the Netherlands then taxes little or nothing on it. But it still counts in the sums, and it uses up part of your tax-free amount. The tax return asks about it separately, so the discount can be worked out.
Your first year
In the year you arrive, you fill in a special tax return for people who moved in or out, called the The tax return for the year you move to or leave the Netherlands. It covers the part of the year you lived here. Named after its old paper version, the M form. (the M form, or the online version). For box 3, the tax office uses what you owned on 1 January of that year, even though you didn't live here yet. But you only pay box 3 for the part of the year you lived in the Netherlands. If you arrive on 1 September, you pay box 3 for 4 months. Our guide to resident and non-resident tax status explains the migration return.
The 30% ruling no longer protects your savings from box 3
The 30% ruling is a tax benefit for some expats. Until 2024, people with it could choose a special status called A choice that let people with the 30% ruling be treated as non-residents for box 2 and box 3. Their foreign savings and investments were then not taxed in the Netherlands.. This kept their foreign savings and investments out of box 3. That choice ended from the 2025 tax return. There is one exception: if you already had the 30% ruling in your last pay period of 2023, you can still choose partial non-resident status up to and including your 2026 tax return. From 2027, everyone with the 30% ruling pays box 3 on everything they own worldwide. If you have a lot of investments abroad, plan for this now.
Foreign pensions
Pension savings in another country's scheme, such as a 401(k) or an IRA from the US, or a personal pension from the UK, may or may not count in box 3. It depends on whether the scheme meets the Dutch rules for a pension. This is technical, and the answer can be worth a lot of money. So check it with a A professional who knows tax law and helps you fill in tax returns and pay no more than you need to. before your first full tax return.
When you leave
After you move abroad, you are a Someone who doesn't live in the Netherlands but has some Dutch income or property. They only pay Dutch tax on that Dutch part.. You then only list homes and land in the Netherlands in box 3. Your Dutch bank accounts and investments no longer count.
Claiming your actual return
The highest court in the Netherlands, the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad), said something important. It is unfair to tax a deemed return that is higher than what you really earned. Since then, you can show that your actual return (werkelijk rendement) was lower, and pay tax on that instead. Since July 2025 this is in the law. It counts until a new box 3 system starts.
Your actual return is everything your savings and investments made during the year:
- interest, A share of a company's profit that it pays to the people who own its shares. and rent you received,
- plus or minus how much your investments, crypto and property went up or down in value, even if you didn't sell them,
- minus interest you paid on box 3 debts.
Two rules make the actual return less helpful than it sounds:
- There is no tax-free amount. You pay tax on the actual return from the very first euro.
- You can't take off costs, such as fees for buying and selling, fund fees or repairs to a second home. And a loss doesn't move to another year: if you lost money, it counts as zero.
From 2026, if you use a second home yourself (for example as a holiday home), you also add a value for that use. This is either what it would cost to rent it, or 5.06% of its The value of a home in euros, set by the municipality once a year. It is used for taxes. for the days you could use it.
Example: when it helps, and when it doesn't
Back to Maria, who pays about €394 on her deemed return. Her savings earn 1.5% interest in 2026, which is €1,050.
| Good year: ETFs go up 8% | Bad year: ETFs go down 10% | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest | €1,050 | €1,050 |
| Change in value of ETFs | +€2,400 | −€3,000 |
| Actual return | €3,450 | −€1,950, so €0 |
| Tax on actual return (36%, no tax-free amount) | €1,242 | €0 |
| Best choice | Deemed return: €394 | Actual return: €0 |
A simple rule: the actual return mostly helps in years when your investments lost value, when most of your money is in savings with low interest, or when you have big debts. If you don't own very much and the stock market has a normal year, the deemed return is usually cheaper, because of the tax-free amount.
How to claim your actual return
- 2025 and later: in your yearly income tax return. If you own more than the tax-free amount, the online form asks if you want to fill in your actual return. The tax office works out both and uses the lower tax. Answering the question can never make your tax higher.
- Already sent your form? You can still change it. It's best to do this before you get the final tax bill. Or you can Officially disagree with a decision of the tax office, in writing. In Dutch: bezwaar maken. within 6 weeks after you get it.
- 2024 and earlier: with a separate form called Opgaaf werkelijk rendement, in Your personal online page on the Dutch tax office website. You log in with DigiD.. You can do this after the tax office sends you a letter about that year.
Keep the yearly statements from every bank, investment platform and crypto exchange. You need the values on 1 January and on 31 December. For foreign accounts, ask for them early: you need them for both ways of working out the tax.
Legal ways to pay less
- Split the taxed part with your tax partner in the way that is best for you. Together you have €118,714 tax-free.
- Check your actual return every year, especially after a year when you lost money.
- List your debts. A foreign student loan or a loan on a home abroad lowers your box 3 total, for the part above €3,800.
- Think about green investments, which are tax-free up to €26,715 per person.
- Don't try to trick the 1 January date. Some people move money from investments to savings just before 1 January and back just after, because savings have a lower deemed return. This doesn't work: the tax office ignores switches made within 3 months before or after 1 January.
A new box 3 system is coming, but it isn't law yet
The government wants to stop using a deemed return and tax the actual return instead, starting on 1 January 2028. Under the plan, gains on most investments would be taxed every year, even if you don't sell. Homes would be taxed when you sell them. A plan becomes law only when both parts of the Dutch parliament agree. The House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) said yes in February 2026. In October 2026, the Senate (Eerste Kamer) was still waiting for changes to the plan before it decides. So the details can still change.
Your box 3 checklist
- List every account, investment, crypto wallet and property you own anywhere in the world, with its value on 1 January.
- Add your debts, including foreign student loans.
- In your first year, check which months count, and list foreign property separately.
- If you have had the 30% ruling since before 2024, check whether partial non-resident status still helps you in 2026, its last year.
- Collect statements with the values on 1 January and 31 December, and fill in your actual return if it is lower.
- If you have a tax partner, split the taxed part in the way that is best for you.
Official sources and useful links
- Belastingdienst: how box 3 is worked out for 2026, with examples (Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: what counts as your actual return (Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: your actual return in your tax return (Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: examples of actual return (Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: tax return for the year you arrive or leave
- Eerste Kamer: the plan for the new box 3 system (Dutch)
This is general information based on the rules in October 2026. The tax-free amount and the deemed returns change every year, and the 2026 percentages for bank money and debts are not final until early 2027. Foreign pensions, property abroad and partial non-resident status are areas where a tax adviser can save you more than they cost.
