30% tax ruling: Minimum salary requirement

Is your taxable salary high enough for the 30% ruling?

Here you find information about the condition of getting the 30% ruling that says that you should have a specific expertise that is not or scarcely available on the Dutch labour market. In the past, this had to show from your education and prior job experience so you had to send in your CV. Currently, the salary your employer is willing to pay you shows if your expertise is specific enough to get the 30% tax ruling. The scarcity condition also still applies. The scarcity can be shown from your education level, specific job experience and level of remuneration in the Netherlands in relation to the remuneration level of your country of origin. In practice, the scarcity condition is not severely tested unless you are in a sector where it is normal for employees to receive high salaries (such as professional football players).

To show that you have specific expertise, your taxable salary on an annual basis after applying the 30% ruling should at least be € 36,889 (year 2016). Below there is extra information about this. Here you find other general information about the Netherlands 30% ruling.

The actual minimum annual gross salary

A common mistake is to think that this means that your minimum annual gross salary should be at least € 52,699 to get the 30% ruling. People think so, because 100/70 x € 36,889 = € 52,699 and 70% of € 52,699 is € 36,889. In fact, the minimum annual gross salary is € 36,889. This is because your employer can also pay you € 0 as a tax-free allowance under the 30% ruling, so your taxable salary will in that case be € 36,705. This way, future pay rises can be paid to you tax free under the 30% ruling, until your gross salary and your tax free allowance together equal € 52,699. Above that amount, only 30% of every extra Euro can be paid to you as a tax free allowance.

The taxable salary is calculated on an annual basis. It includes other fixed elements of your remuneration such as holiday allowance, a 13th month incentive payment and other types of fixed remuneration such as the fiscal value of the possibility to use your company car. You can accrue these elements when calculating if you meet the minimum salary condition. So if you are hired as from October with a monthly gross salary of € 3,000 excluding 8% holiday allowance, in principle you just meet the minimum salary condition of the 30% ruling, but the amount of the tax free allowance that can be paid is low (12 x € 3,000 x 108% = € 38,880, so you are over the minimum taxable salary of € 36,889. The maximum tax free allowance that can be paid to you annually is € 38,880 -/- € 36,889 = € 1,991).

The minimum salary does not apply only when requesting for the 30% ruling, but throughout the validity period of the 30% ruling. If your taxable salary does not meet the minimum in any given year, you will lose the 30% ruling with retroactive effect to the beginning of the calendar year.

Lower minimum salary requirement for Masters

For people under 30 years of age a lower minimum salary condition applies to get the 30% ruling if they also have a degree that is comparable to the Dutch University master’s degree. In 2016, the lower minimum salary is € 28,041.
If you have a Master of a foreign University, you must show that the level of that degree is at least equal to a Dutch Master’s degree. This can be evaluated by either the Dutch institutions Idw or Nuffic. We can also arrange this for you.
If you reach your 30th birthday during the validity period of your 30% ruling, you should recalculate if you meet the normal minimum salary condition on an annual basis in the month after your birthday. If not, you lose your 30% ruling as from the month after your birthday. Not a nice gift.

Scientific researchers and medical specialists in training (artsen in opleiding)

No minimum salary at all applies to you if you are a scientific researcher at an appointed research institute, such as a Dutch University. This also applies to medical registrar, intern or resident (arts in opleiding) at appointed medical training institutes.

Should you also have a second job, the normal rules apply to you to determine if that employer can also apply the 30% ruling.