Highly skilled migrants Netherlands

The expat ruling or 30% ruling is a tax benefit for foreign employees who come to the Netherlands to work. Employees who come to the Netherlands from abroad to work often receive compensation for the additional costs associated with staying outside their country of origin. These are called extraterritorial costs. There are two options for reimbursement of these costs: **Extraterritorial expenses regulation**: reimbursement of the actual extraterritorial costs. **Expat ruling or 30% ruling**: companies may pay out up to 30% of expats' wages tax-free for 5 years as compensation for the extra costs they incur by working temporarily in the Netherlands. From 2024 onward, they still receive 30% tax-free compensation the first 20 months, but 20% after 20 months, and 10% after 40 months. For highly skilled migrants for whom the 30% ruling was applied before 2024, will continue to be compensated with 30% tax-free compensation for the full 5 years.

In addition, highly skilled migrants are required to be compensated with a competitive salary, annually determined by the government. For 2024, the following minimum gross salary thresholds* have been set for highly skilled migrants: **Younger than 30 years**: €3,909 gross p/m **From 30 years**: €5,331 gross p/m **Recently graduated in the Netherlands**: €2,801 gross p/m *The above salaries do not include mandatory gross reservations, such as holiday pay and vacation days.