State Secretary Eugène Heijnen (Fiscal Affairs, Tax Administration and Customs): “Improving the tax system is an ongoing process. We remove or change tax measures that clearly do not achieve their intended purpose. This also applies to measures that prove not to be an efficient way to reach the goal. There is broad parliamentary support for these measures. Until the new cabinet takes office, I will continue to work on improving the tax system.”
Better Tax System
The cabinet is taking several measures because evaluations show that some schemes do not achieve their intended effect (effectiveness) and/or are not implemented efficiently (efficiency). For example, from 2026 the low rate in motor vehicle tax (mrb) will be reduced for camper vans and abolished for horse transport. This also applies to the reduced VAT rate for accommodation. From 2026, overnight stays in hotel rooms, holiday homes or static caravans will be taxed at 21% VAT instead of 9%. This also applies to short-term accommodation (max. 6 months) provided to employees, students, asylum seekers, and homeless people.
An ambiguity in the addition of private use for business bicycles will be removed from next year. When an employee also uses a bicycle privately, no 7% addition will have to be paid anymore.
Income and Entrepreneurship
To finance the reversal of the VAT increase on culture, media, and sports, the brackets of income tax and tax credits will not be fully adjusted for inflation. As a result, people will fall into the next income tax bracket slightly earlier. The first income tax bracket will increase from €38,441 to €39,357 in 2026. The second bracket will increase from €76,817 to €79,137 in 2026.
An adjustment will also be made to the labor tax credit. These amounts are usually linked to the rise of the statutory minimum wage. For 2026, this will be different. As a result, the income limits will be lowered on January 1, 2026. This means that people working part-time and earning less than the minimum wage will receive more labor tax credit in 2026.
To keep fuel prices affordable, the excise duty discount on gasoline, diesel, and LPG will be extended by one year until January 1, 2027. However, the discount is lower due to a change made by the House of Representatives. The excise duty per liter will be €0.84 for gasoline, €0.55 for diesel, and €0.20 for LPG.
The amount self-employed persons (zzp’ers) may deduct from their profit will decrease to €1,200 next year. The exempt monthly amount for early retirement will increase by €300 gross in 2026. Employers do not have to pay additional tax on this, and older workers with heavy jobs can retire earlier more easily.
The tax scheme for foreign employees temporarily in the Netherlands (ETK scheme) will be tightened from 2026. Employees will no longer be able to declare extra living expenses and additional communication costs for private purposes with their country of origin tax-free.
Wealth
The cabinet wants wealth passed on through inheritance to reach the next generation fairly. Therefore, several adjustments will be made within inheritance and gift tax. For example, constructions with unequal wealth distribution between partners before death or divorce will be addressed. Spouses will pay gift or inheritance tax on half of the community property at the end of marriage or death, even if they have unevenly divided it on paper to avoid one paying less tax. To better enable heirs to file their inheritance tax return, the filing period after death will be extended from 8 to 20 months.
The cabinet had proposed covering the costs of the delayed implementation of the new box 3 system within box 3. The House of Representatives reversed this tax increase. Instead, the Wet Hillen will be phased out faster. This law provides a tax discount for people with a small or repaid mortgage debt because they cannot deduct much or any mortgage interest but do pay tax on the imputed rental value of their home. Due to the phase-out, these people will receive less discount from next year, as previously decided. The accelerated phase-out means this tax deduction will end in 2041 instead of 2048.
People buying a second home as an investment or holiday home in 2026 will pay less transfer tax. The rate will decrease from 10.4% to 8%.
Climate and Cars
Through various measures for individuals and companies, further steps will be taken in the climate transition. The cabinet wants the greening of the Dutch vehicle fleet to continue. Therefore, the reduced BPM rate for emission-free cars will also apply to emission-free motorcycles and special passenger cars, such as camper vans and vehicles for wheelchair transport. At the same time, BPM rates will be adjusted to maintain sufficient incentives to make fuel cars more efficient.
At the request of the House of Representatives during the Tax Plan debate, a discount on the addition for private use of a company car without CO2 emissions will be extended for 2 years. To finance this, the youngtimer scheme will be tightened. This scheme benefits entrepreneurs and directors-major shareholders (DGA) who also use a company car privately that was first put into use more than 15 years ago. From 2026, the minimum age of this car will increase from 15 to 16 years. Youngtimers turning 16 during the year will still be eligible for the favorable addition, as additionally arranged by the cabinet. Before the favorable addition increases from 16 to 25 years in 2027, they can still change cars. This late change means some DGAs will have to process the adjustment manually or submit corrections afterwards.
From July 1, 2026, trucks between 3,500 kg and 12,000 kg will replace the motor vehicle tax (mrb) with a new truck levy. The cleaner and lighter the vehicle, the lower the amount per kilometer. For trucks over 12,000 kg, the mrb will decrease.
From 2026, companies will pay tax on a larger portion of the drinking water they use. The tax threshold will increase from 300 cubic meters to 50,000 cubic meters. In the European Union (EU), producers pay a CO2 tax that taxes emissions. To ensure fair competition, from 2026 a CO2 tax will also be introduced for certain goods coming from outside the EU, such as iron, steel, and aluminum.
Trust in the Tax System
For trust in the tax system, it is important that everyone pays their taxes. Therefore, next year a further step will be taken to combat tax evasion with cryptocurrencies. From 2026, crypto providers must collect personal data of their customers. This data, together with transaction data, must be reported to the Tax Administration by January 31, 2027, at the latest. This allows the Tax Administration to better check whether customers have correctly declared crypto holdings in their income tax returns. The law will be debated early 2026 and, once approved by both chambers, will apply retroactively from January 1, 2026. Crypto providers can therefore start collecting data from January 1, 2026.