Other tax tips and changes

General

• Do you expect to pay tax for the 2025 or 2026 tax year? Requesting a provisional assessment in good time, will save you interest. Interest is calculated if the assessment is imposed later than 6 months after the end of the calendar year. The interest is 6.5% currently. To ensure that the assessment for 2025 is imposed in time, we recommend that you apply for it before 1 April 2026. The assessment for the 2025 tax year must be paid at once. There is the possibility of paying the assessment for the tax year 2026 in instalments during the year. Do you have questions about this? We are happy to assist you in applying for a provisional assessment.
• If you expect to receive a refund for 2020, an Income Tax return for this year must be submitted before December 31, 2025. In 2025, the 5-year term for submitting this declaration will expire.
• If you have not yet used the annual gift exemptions in 2025, you can still do so until 31 December 2025. The general exemption for gifts to your children in 2025 is €6,713 per child. This exemption can, under certain conditions, be increased once to €32,195 or €67,064 if the gift is used for an expensive education. For all other recipients, the exemption is €2,690.

Deductions

• If possible, bundle deductible expenses such as medical expenses and donations in one specific year. For example, a deduction is achieved earlier and the threshold is only deducted once from the expenses. For donations, the threshold disappears completely if you commit to donating to a charitable institution for 5 years, which has to be agreed on in writing.
• In 2025, deductible items may be taken at a maximum of the lower rate of 37,48% even if your income falls in the highest bracket.

Box 3

• As mentioned in the introduction, if you were planning on converting (low-yielding) assets (e.g. shares, crypto, real estate) to bank accounts, this could save a substantial amount of box 3 tax for 2026 if this is done before the end of the year. All other assets apart from bank accounts are taxed at the highest rate, while bank accounts are taxed at a lower rate. Receivables and loaned amounts are also taxed at the highest rate, therefore it would save box 3 tax for 2026 if the amounts are received or paid back into your bank account before the end of the year. This is only applicable if, in due course, you choose for taxation on fictitious box 3 income.
• The green investment exemption in box 3 will be scaled back further. From 1 January 2025, the green investments exemption is reduced to € 26.312 (2026: € 26.715). From 1 January 2027, the exemption will be lowered to € 200 and from 1 January 2028 it will be abolished altogether.
• If you wish to make use of the Declaration of actual return for the year 2020, we recommend doing so before 31 December 2025, as the possibility lapses after 5 years.
• There are no easy tax-saving opportunities for Box 3 properties. Filing an objection against the municipal WOZ assessment is one option, for which careful planning is important, also taking into account the return on other assets. Taking out loans on a Box 3 property is another possibility, particularly if this keeps the equity below the tax-free allowance. Of course, interest will apply on these loans; financing through a private company (BV) may therefore be more advantageous. These options, however, depend on specific circumstances and require professional tax guidance. Foreign properties are exempt from Box 3 taxation in the Netherlands, but they may still be taxable abroad.

Home owners

• The general transfer tax/stamp duty rate will be lowered from 10.4% in 2025 to 8% in 2026. This rate is valid for all properties except those to which the reduced rate of 2% or the starter exemption applies. For a first residence property (in which you will live yourself) the rate is 2% under certain conditions.
• House buyers between the age of 18 and 35 can benefit from a one-off transfer tax/stamp duty exemption if they meet certain requirements. The limit of this starter exemption (house value limit) will be raised from € 525,000 to € 555,000 in 2026. If the purchase price is between these values, waiting with the house purchase until 2026 could potentially save thousands of euros in transfer tax.