Dutch tax changes mean your holiday allowance might be lower this year

Holiday allowances will start to be paid out this month. Due to changes in the Dutch tax system, some people will get less than they might be expecting, while others will get a little more. Here’s what you need to know:

Many people in the Netherlands will get a lower holiday allowance in 2025

People who work part-time hours in the Netherlands will receive a lower holiday allowance than last year in 2025, NOS reports, citing calculations done by the payroll company ADP. Full-time workers on low incomes will receive a little more, while people who earn more than 3.000 euros per month will get a little less. 

According to the ADP’s calculations, it breaks down something like this: 

• Part-time workers who earn less than 1.000 euros per month will get the same holiday allowance in 2025 as they did in 2024.
• Part-time workers who earn 1.000 euros per month will get almost 20 percent less.
• Part-time workers who earn between 1.000 and 2.000 euros per month will get a few euros less. 
• Full- and part-time workers who earn between 2.000 and 3.000 euros per month will receive a little more in 2025. 
• Workers who earn between 3.000 and 5.382 euros per month will see their holiday allowance go down slightly. 
• Anyone who earns more than 5.382 euros per month will get the same holiday allowance as last year. 

Tax changes hit low-income earners hardest

As the calculations show, it is those on the lowest incomes who will feel the effects of the new tax rules hardest. After already experiencing a pay cut at the beginning of the year due to a change in the way tax liabilities are calculated, these low-income earners will now also receive less holiday allowance. 

“We have seen this unexpected effect of the [new] tax rules before with payslips, and now it is also being felt with holiday pay,” Dik van Leeuwerden at ADP told NOS. “It is the lowest incomes that are going to lose out this year.”