Freelancer taxes in Netherlands (2026).

Important context

Employee scheme: the gross amount in the calculator is the wage including the tax-free allowance, and no expenses apply. How it works in 2026: the employer may pay up to 30% of the wage including the allowance tax-free (30/70 of the wage excluding it), provided the taxable wage excluding the allowance stays above the salary norm of EUR 48,013 (EUR 36,497 for under-30s with a master's degree, not modelled), on a wage base capped at the WNT norm of EUR 262,000 (maximum allowance EUR 78,600). The allowance is therefore min(30% of the wage, wage − 48,013): below a wage of EUR 68,590 the taxable wage is held at the norm (a wage of EUR 60,000 gets an allowance of EUR 11,987, the Belastingdienst's own example rounds this down by one euro because the norm must be exceeded), above it the full 30% applies, and the cap bites from a wage of EUR 262,000. The allowance is modelled as a recognised exemption (notional deduction from the wage) and the remaining taxable wage goes through the box-1 schedule folded with the algemene heffingskorting and the arbeidskorting, both of which an employee gets in full on the taxable wage (arbeidsinkomen = loon; verzamelinkomen = taxable wage with no other income). An employee pays no WW, WIA or ZW premium and no Zvw contribution: the employer owes the employee-insurance premiums and may not recover them (Wfsv art. 20 and 25), and the employer pays the 6.10% Zvw werkgeversheffing without withholding it (Belastingdienst table: 'Loondienst'; Handboek Loonheffingen 2026 ch. 8.2.1). The ruling runs for at most 5 years, requires the employee to have been recruited from abroad (more than 16 of the 24 months before the first working day at over 150 km from the Dutch border) and an application by the employer, ideally within 4 months of starting. The percentage falls from 30% to 27% from 1 January 2027 (employees whose ruling started up to the end of 2023 keep 30%) and the salary norm rises to about EUR 51,899 (EUR 39,450 for under-30s) before indexation, so the figures here are 2026 only. Not modelled: the choice between the 30% flat allowance and actual extraterritorial costs, international school fees (also tax-free), employee pension contributions, partner and children, employer cost, municipal taxes, the Caribbean Netherlands. A freelancer cannot use this scheme; whether a DGA can employ themselves under the ruling was not found at an official source. Health insurance: the same EUR 1,884 average nominal premium as nl-eenmanszaak.

Important context

Identical to nl-eenmanszaak except for the larger deduction: zelfstandigenaftrek 1,200 + startersaftrek 2,123 = 3,323 (the limit that the zelfstandigenaftrek cannot exceed the profit does not apply to a starter, art. 3.76(5); a profit below 3,323 would create a loss, which is not carried forward in this model). The folded schedule is rebuilt for that deduction (taxable income = 0.873 × (profit − 3,323); zero-rate band up to a profit of about EUR 30,582). It assumes the urencriterium is met, because the startersaftrek requires the zelfstandigenaftrek. The startersaftrek is worth about EUR 900 a year at profits of EUR 54,000 and EUR 90,000 (lower income tax and a lower Zvw base), and only about EUR 90 at EUR 25,000, where the credits already wipe out the income tax. The scheme is a variant of nl-eenmanszaak kept separate because the DSL's conditional can test only one option and the deduction changes the breakpoints of the folded schedule; it can be dropped or merged if the owner prefers one eenmanszaak entry. Health-insurance, Zvw and everything not modelled: see nl-eenmanszaak.

Important context

How the numbers are built. Box 1 gives two tax credits and the DSL has no negative component, so the income tax and the national-insurance premies (one combined statutory rate: 35.75% = 8.10% income tax + 27.65% premies up to EUR 38,883) are folded together with both credits into ONE progressive schedule. Its bracket rates are the statutory rate minus the credit build-up slope (or plus the phase-out slope) and its first band is a zero-rate band: the credits (algemene heffingskorting up to EUR 3,115, arbeidskorting up to EUR 5,685) are not refundable (art. 8.8 Wet IB 2001), so nothing is owed until the credits are used up, at about EUR 28,300 of profit. The two credits sit on different bases: the arbeidskorting is measured on the profit BEFORE the zelfstandigenaftrek and the MKB-winstvrijstelling (Belastingdienst: 'winst uit onderneming vóór ondernemersaftrek en mkb-winstvrijstelling'), while box-1 tax and the algemene heffingskorting are measured on the profit AFTER both (taxable income = 0.873 × (profit − 1,200), and since 2025 the algemene heffingskorting is tied to the verzamelinkomen, which for this person equals that taxable income). The folded schedule therefore runs on the profit before the deductions and its breakpoints are converted (for example the second box-1 bracket starts at a profit of 1,200 + 38,883 / 0.873 = 45,740). It also contains the limit in art. 2.10(2)-(3): the benefit of the ondernemersaftrek and the MKB-winstvrijstelling is only 37.56%, which adds tax once profit passes EUR 78,426 (EUR 1,382 at a EUR 90,000 profit). Marginal rates run from 0% up to 56.8% between profits of about EUR 78,400 and 91,000, where both credits are still phasing out. One schedule is kept per answer to the hours question because the breakpoints depend on the zelfstandigenaftrek; the schedules reproduce the statutory calculation to within EUR 0.07 for any profit up to EUR 400,000 (the Belastingdienst's arbeidskorting table jumps by 7 cents at EUR 45,592). The 'Zelfstandigenaftrek' and 'MKB-winstvrijstelling' lines are recognised deductions, not payments; they exist to build the base of the Zvw contribution (profit after both deductions: art. 43 Zvw with art. 3.2 Wet IB), which is NOT deductible from income tax. Health insurance. The Zvw basic package is compulsory for every resident, so, as in the Swiss scheme, the nominal premium is included as a fixed amount: EUR 1,884 a year, the 'geraamde gemiddelde nominale premie' for 2026 in the Regeling vaststelling standaardpremie 2026 (Staatscourant 2025, 40022), which the Rijksoverheid quotes as EUR 157 a month. It is an average over insurers, so a real premium differs by insurer and policy (the earlier budget estimate of EUR 1,908 in Staatscourant 2025, 35972 was set for minimum-wage purposes and is superseded for this purpose by the figure based on the real 2026 premiums). Not modelled: the mandatory eigen risico of EUR 385 (paid on care used, not a premium), voluntary higher eigen risico, supplementary insurance, and the zorgtoeslag (health-care allowance, income- and partner-dependent, paid by Dienst Toeslagen; the standaardpremie for it is EUR 2,119). Not modelled: municipal and water-board taxes (property- and household-based, not income-based); partner and children (inkomensafhankelijke combinatiekorting, kindgebonden budget); box 3 on savings and investments; pension and disability provision (the self-employed have no compulsory pension or disability insurance; private provision such as a lijfrente or an arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering can have tax effects that are not modelled; no new additions to the fiscale oudedagsreserve are possible since 1 January 2023, paragraph 3.2.3 of the Wet IB lapsed on that date); investment deductions (KIA) and depreciation beyond the expense slider; loss carry-over; the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba), which has a different tax system. VAT is not a levy on the freelancer: a Dutch-established freelancer charges 21% on services to Dutch customers, services to businesses in other EU states are normally reverse-charged, and the kleineondernemersregeling (KOR) exempts a business with at most EUR 20,000 of turnover a calendar year from charging and declaring VAT (a VAT rule only; it changes nothing in the income-tax calculation above). If the hours criterion is not met the person can still be an ondernemer for income tax and keep the MKB-winstvrijstelling (modelled by the option), provided the activity qualifies as a business; otherwise the income is 'resultaat uit overige werkzaamheden' without that exemption. Scheduled changes (wetten.overheid.nl version of 2027-01-01, not used here): from 2027 the zelfstandigenaftrek falls to EUR 900 and the first two box-1 bracket limits and rates move (8.01% / 37.59%, second limit EUR 79,569), so the figures above are 2026 only.

Important context

Models the full chain to the owner's pocket for a one-person BV that distributes the whole year's profit as dividend. The chain: (1) the BV pays the owner a salary S = the lesser of the pre-salary profit and EUR 58,000, which is a deductible BV cost; (2) the BV pays vennootschapsbelasting on the rest, 19% up to EUR 200,000 and 25.8% above, and distributes the remainder as dividend D; (3) the owner pays box-1 income tax and premies on S (35.75% / 37.56%; the salary never reaches the 49.50% bracket) after arbeidskorting (measured on the salary) and algemene heffingskorting, box-2 tax on D (24.5% to EUR 68,843, 31% above), and the 4.85% Zvw contribution on S, which the BV withholds. Because the algemene heffingskorting is measured on the verzamelinkomen (art. 8.10 and 2.18 Wet IB 2001), the dividend reduces it: 6.398% of the dividend until the remaining credit of EUR 1,306.67 is gone at a dividend of EUR 20,423 (modelled as a separate component). The 15% dividend withholding tax is only an advance on the box-2 tax and nets out. A DGA who can decide on their own dismissal is not insured for WW, WIA or ZW; the BV therefore pays no employee-insurance premium and no employer Zvw levy of 6.10% (Belastingdienst table 'Werkgeversheffing Zvw of bijdrage Zvw?'; Handboek Loonheffingen 2026 ch. 18.1.1). The folded salary schedule is exact for salaries up to EUR 58,000 within EUR 0.07. The salary assumption is the main judgement call. The gebruikelijkloonregeling (art. 12a Wet LB 1964) requires at least the highest of the wage of the most comparable employment, the wage of the best-paid employee and EUR 58,000; an IT specialist's comparable employment may well pay more than EUR 58,000, which raises the burden of this route above what is shown. A salary below the floor is accepted only when the comparable employment pays less, in a start-up phase of at most 3 years where the BV cannot pay the wage, or when the BV makes so large a loss that its continuity is at risk; it is NOT accepted for an incidental loss, or when the BV can still pay its bills (Handboek Loonheffingen 2026 ch. 18.1). At EUR 60,000 of revenue (profit EUR 54,000 before salary) the BV cannot pay EUR 58,000 without a EUR 4,000 loss. This scheme assumes the Belastingdienst accepts a lower salary equal to the whole pre-salary profit (BV result zero, no dividend); if instead EUR 58,000 is imposed as a fictitious salary, the levies at that profile rise from EUR 17,381 to EUR 19,594 (net EUR 40,406 instead of EUR 42,619). Below EUR 58,000 of profit the route is therefore worse than the eenmanszaak (no ondernemersaftrek, no MKB-winstvrijstelling) and the BV only starts to win from a profit of about EUR 95,000, before the BV's own costs (bookkeeping, annual accounts, KVK and notary costs, which are not modelled). Not modelled: a salary above EUR 58,000; retained profit (deferring box-2 tax until distribution); pension built up in the BV; the BV's own costs; the 3-year lower-salary regime for a starting BV; partner and children; box 3 (the shares themselves are a box-2 asset because of the aanmerkelijk belang; other wealth is not modelled); the 49.50% bracket on a high salary; municipal taxes; the Caribbean Netherlands. Health insurance: the same EUR 1,884 average nominal premium as nl-eenmanszaak (eigen risico EUR 385 and zorgtoeslag not modelled).