The last time the 30 percent ruling in the Netherlands was thoroughly revised was in 2012. The main changes considered the maximum period of 8 years instead of 10 years.

Also expats have to have lived further than 150 kilometers away from the Dutch border during more than 16 months before their employment in Holland to qualify for the 30 percent ruling. Besides these alterations there is the change in the criterion. Before it was called the specific knowledge criterion, now it is basically a salary criterion, indicating that employees from abroad that have specific knowledge earn more. An exeption is made for younger persons with a master degree and those that receive their PhD in the Netherlands.

The past years these changes have raised many questions, especially the 150 kilometer rule. Especially if someone has had to move more than 150 kilometers it can be confusing if the application is denied. The Tax authorities are strict in applying the rule, 1 kilometer can make the difference. It could also be that you have moved 280 kilometers from Cologne (Köln) to The Hague, but do not apply for the 30 percent ruling because Cologne is less then 150 kilometers from the Dutch border.

The fact that you have to have lived abroad for 16 months raises a lot of questions. What if you have worked in a different job before in which the 30% ruling applied? What if you were travelling and it is not sure where your center of life was? Answers to these questions are sometimes hard to find and qualified tax advice is required.

Salary criterion

With the salary criterion it is crucial that the qualifying salary of € 36.705,– or more (in 2015) is the taxable salary after the 30%-ruling has been applied.  Make sure your employer or payroll agency applies the 30%-ruling correctly. We offer second opinion advice when your apllication is denied or when you have doubts about the procedure being correct or not. You cab also contact us if you want to know more about the 16 month period that you have to have lived abroad, since this often raises a lot of questions.

In case of unemployment

Last but not least we want to highlight that, if unfortunately this situation occurs,  you need to make sure that you are not unemployed for longer than 3 months in between jobs. If you exceed this period you will loose your eligibility for the 30% ruling in the new job.