30% Ruling Calculator - Dutch Expat Tax Benefit (Expatregeling)

How the Dutch 30% Ruling Works in 2026

The 30% ruling (officially the expatregeling) lets employers pay highly skilled migrants recruited from abroad up to 30% of their salary as a tax-free allowance for extraterritorial costs. In 2026 the percentage is still 30% for the full five-year duration, but employees whose ruling started in 2024 or later will see it drop to 27% from 1 January 2027. Anyone who was already using the ruling in 2023 keeps 30% for the remainder of their term.

Two limits shape the calculation. First, the salary norm: after applying the allowance your remaining taxable salary must stay at or above EUR 48,013 in 2026 (EUR 36,497 if you are under 30 with a qualifying master's degree). Someone earning EUR 60,000 can therefore only receive EUR 11,987 tax-free rather than the full EUR 18,000, because a full 30% would push taxable pay below the norm. Second, since 1 January 2026 the ruling is capped at the WNT norm (Balkenende norm) of EUR 262,000 for everyone: salary above that amount no longer generates any tax-free allowance.

The net effect is substantial. At EUR 90,000 the full EUR 27,000 allowance would otherwise be taxed largely at the 49.5% top rate, so the ruling is worth roughly EUR 14,000 net per year. The calculator estimates this by applying the 2026 box 1 brackets (35.75% up to EUR 38,883, 37.56% up to EUR 78,426, 49.5% above) with simplified general and labour tax credits to both scenarios.

To qualify you must be recruited from outside the Netherlands (living more than 150 km from the Dutch border for at least 16 of the 24 months before starting), have specific expertise evidenced by the salary norm, and file a joint application with your employer at the Belastingdienst within four months of starting. Also planning your regular payslip? The Salary Calculator on ToolForte converts between hourly, monthly, and annual pay, and the Dutch Holiday Allowance Calculator shows what your 8% vakantiegeld looks like after tax.