Mortgage tax deductions in the Netherlands

The Dutch government supports homeowners in the Netherlands by offering them various tax advantages to help them save money overall. Many of the costs associated with buying a home in the Netherlands are tax-deductible, including mortgage interest payments, and other costs relating to the financing of your home purchase. This page explains what you need to know about mortgage tax deductions in the Netherlands. 

Mortgage tax relief in the Netherlands

Mortgage tax relief in the Netherlands can be broadly divided into three major parts. Costs relating to these three categories can be deducted from your box 1 income on your tax return. They are: 

• One-time financing costs
• Interest paid on the mortgage debt
• Periodic payments for leaseholds or building rights

Tax-deductible costs when buying a house in the Netherlands

To help offset some of the costs associated with buying a home in the Netherlands, homebuyers are permitted to deduct certain (one-off) costs from their annual income in the year in which they were incurred. 

Deductible financing costs

You may deduct:

• The advisory and brokerage fees charged by your mortgage advisor
• Any commitment fees paid to a bank or lender to secure a quoted mortgage interest rate
• Fees paid to the notary to draw up the mortgage deed
• The cost of a valuation (if required to obtain the mortgage)
• Costs for applying to the National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG)
• Penalty interest payments

These costs are only deductible as long as they are related to a mortgage that was taken out to buy a property that you use as your main residence, or a mortgage taken out to improve or maintain the property. 

Costs that are not deductible

The following costs are not deductible:

• Fees charged by a real estate agent for the purchase of the property
• Property transfer tax and sales tax
• Notary fees and land registry fees for the deed of sale
• Maintenance and renovation costs
• Your monthly mortgage repayments
• Costs of a bank guarantee taken out to pay the deposit

Mortgage interest deductions in the Netherlands (hypotheekrenteaftrek)

On top of these one-off deductible costs, in the Netherlands you can also deduct (part of) any interest you pay on your mortgage (hypotheekrenteaftrek), so long as you meet certain conditions. 

In order to qualify for the deduction, you must meet certain criteria:

• You are using the mortgage to buy or renovate your home, or to buy out the leasehold for it. 
• The home is (or will be) your main place of residence. It is not a second home or a holiday home. 

On top of this, the rules vary slightly depending on when you took out the mortgage or loan. 

You took out your mortgage for the first time on or after January 1, 2013

If you took out your mortgage for the first time on or after January 1, 2013, you are entitled to deduct your mortgage interest payments from your taxable income for a maximum of 30 years.

You must meet the following conditions: 

• You hold an annuity or linear mortgage.
• The mortgage term is no more than 30 years. 

Since 2013, the only kinds of mortgages that are eligible for the interest tax deduction are annuities and linear mortgage models, whereby the loan is repaid within 30 years via monthly repayments.

You already had a mortgage, and you increased it on or after January 1, 2013

If you increased a pre-existing mortgage on or after January 1, 2013, the rules are a little bit more complicated. Essentially, the 30-year term remains in place for the original mortgage debt, while a new 30-year term is added to the amount by which you increase your mortgage (so long as you meet the conditions outlined above for a new mortgage taken out after 2013). Any conditions that were in place for the original mortgage continue to apply to the existing debt. 

You took out your mortgage before January 1, 2013, and you have not increased it

If you took out a mortgage before January 1, 2013, you are entitled to deduct your mortgage interest payments for a maximum of 30 years. The length of the mortgage term does not matter; neither does the mortgage type (as in, you can claim interest deductions on other types of mortgages besides linear and annuity mortgages). 

If you took out your mortgage before January 1, 2001, the 30-year term starts on January 1, 2001. 

Can I still deduct mortgage interest if I don’t live in the property? 

In general, you are only eligible for mortgage tax relief when you are living in your property. If you are renting it out (while living abroad, for example) then it is considered an investment for which you can receive no tax deduction on interest.

Tax deductions automatically disappear if you decide to leave the country but continue to own the property. As a non-resident taxpayer, you will not enjoy tax-deductible mortgage interest payments, so make sure the rent you receive covers both costs and interest.

However, there are some exceptions where you can still claim the mortgage interest deduction: 

• If you buy a house and plan to move into it within the next three years (for instance, if it is still under construction, or you are doing renovations), you can claim the deduction. 
• If you move and put your house up for sale, you can continue to claim the mortgage interest deduction for up to four years (the year in which you put it up for sale, plus three years), so long as it remains empty. 

The requirement for both of these conditions is that the home remains empty. If someone is living in it (and paying rent, for example), you cannot claim the deduction. 

How much is the tax refund for mortgage interest deductions (renteaftrek)?

Calculating the size of your tax refund when you add mortgage interest deductions is a little complicated. This is because the value of the benefit depends on two other factors: 

• The deemed rental value (eigenwoningforfait or EWF) added to your taxable income
• The maximum deductible mortgage interest rate

You will only get a tax reduction if your deductible mortgage interest payments and financing costs exceed the amount added to your income by the deemed rental value (EWF) of your home. In the Netherlands, a portion of the value of someone’s home is added to their taxable income, resulting in an overall higher tax bill. EWF is calculated based on the property’s WOZ value. You can find out more about this on our taxes, costs and fees page. 

On top of this, only a percentage of your mortgage interest payment is deductible. This is important because this deductible percentage may be smaller than the rate at which you pay income tax (this is the case, for example, if you are a high earner). In 2025, the maximum mortgage interest rate deduction is 37,48%, lower than the maximum tax rate of 49,5%. 

Periodic payments for leaseholds or building rights

Sometimes it may be the case that the home (which you own) is built on land that you do not own. In this circumstance, you pay a monthly or annual amount to the landowner for the leasehold or building rights. This cost is tax-deductible. 

However, you cannot deduct the following costs relating to payments for leaseholds or building rights: 

• Premiums for buildings insurance
• The cost of redeeming the leasehold (unless you do this with a mortgage, in which case the mortgage interest payments are usually deductible - see above)
• Notary fees for the re-issue of the leasehold

How to benefit from mortgage tax deductions

Mortgage tax deductions are calculated via your annual tax return. When you file each year, you enter the amounts you have paid as deductions, and the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) will crunch the numbers to determine whether you are due a refund.