Reports suggest that various tax benefits - including the 30% ruling for expats and internationals in the Netherlands - could be scrapped under the cabinet’s new Spring Memorandum (voorjaarsnota) as part of the government’s plan to make up for additional energy and defence expenditure.

Rutte could scrap 30% ruling for expats in the Netherlands

The Dutch government is currently undergoing the lengthy process of putting together a spring budget statement, dubbed the voorjaarsnota, which outlines the new cabinet’s finances and budget plan. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that, thanks to growing costs as a result of the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, and rising inflation rates, the government would have to find an additional 10 to 15 billion euros. 

In order to do this, the coalition parties are looking into scrapping various tax benefits for Dutch businesses and entrepreneurs, and are considering introducing new taxes on wealth. In addition to these plans, however, NOS reports that ministers could scrap the 30% ruling - the tax benefit that means that 30 percent of a salary is tax-free. 

Spring Memorandum to be presented to Dutch parliament in June

Early on Friday morning, the Prime Minister announced that coalition talks about the voorjaarsnota were coming to an end for the time being, giving the parties the opportunity to discuss the plan with members of the opposition. The plan is for the discussion to be resumed in May before the final plan is presented to the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) in June. 

Rutte emphasised that an agreement was yet to be reached and refused to provide any details about the options that were currently on the table. “Many variants are still conceivable,” he told the Dutch press. Whatever the cabinet eventually decides, the voorjaarsnota will play a significant role in the government’s budget plans, which will be presented on Prinsjesdag in September.

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