Salary requirements for
30% scheme known

Under certain conditions, you may pay foreign workers with specific expertise 30% of the salary untaxed as an expense allowance. Specific expertise should be reflected in the level of the salary. What are the conditions for this scheme in 2023? We set these out for you.

What is the 30% rule?

Under the 30% rule, you may pay up to 30% of the salary tax-free under conditions for foreign workers with specific expertise. This is as compensation for the additional costs such workers incur to work in the Netherlands, e.g. additional housing costs.

30% rule from 2024 up to maximum of ‘Balkenende’ norm

Incidentally, the Dutch government has plans to limit the 30% rule to a salary of up to the ‘Balkenende’ norm from 2024. For incoming workers for whom the 30% rule was applied over the last pay period of 2022, this restriction applies on the basis of a transitional arrangement as of 1 January 2026.

For workers making use of the 30% rule as of 2023, the transitional arrangement does not apply. Indeed, for these workers, it is clear in advance that the capping measure will apply from 2024.

The lower salary limit for foreign workers with the 30% rule

In 2023, if your worker has a taxable annual salary that exceeds €41,954, excluding the specific exemption, they are considered to have specific expertise. If you have workers who have obtained a Dutch master’s degree or an equivalent foreign title in scientific education and are younger than 30, the taxable annual salary must exceed €31,891, excluding the specific exemption.

Please note: Workers doing scientific research at certain institutions and doctors training to be specialists do not have to meet an income standard.

Choose annually: Actual ET costs or application of the 30% rule

As long as you are allowed to apply the 30% rule, you must choose each year whether to apply the 30% rule or reimburse the actual extraterritorial (ET) costs. If you opt to reimburse the actual costs, you must be able to justify them. This means you have to keep track of these costs and allowances per worker in your payroll records.

Tip: School fees are also extraterritorial costs. School fees for an international school or for an international part of a regular school are subject to a separate regulation. The reimbursement of these school fees can remain untaxed above/in addition to the 30% rule limit.