In the Netherlands, your savings and investments are taxed in box 3. The wealth tax (or: box 3 taxation) works differently than the taxation on income from work (box 1). As soon as your assets exceed the tax-free capital threshold, you have to pay wealth tax in box 3. There has been a lot to do with the wealth tax. In 2021, a new calculation method based on the savings variant is introduced. According to the planning, a capital gains tax system will be introduced in 2025 or 2026.
Wealth tax 2022 – 2023
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Box 3 tax Netherlands
The Dutch tax system has three boxes for the income tax return. It is important to know that your capital is taxed in box 3. Here, no tax is levied on actual returns (yet). Until 2021, your assets were completely lumped together, on which a fictitious return was calculated. For many people, this return is higher than they achieved on their assets. The Dutch tax authorities work towards a capital gains system for box 3 as well. However, the capital gains tax system will be finished in 2026 at the soonest. Until then, temporary rules apply.
How does wealth tax work?
Until the plans on capital gains tax are finalized, the flat-rate saving option will be used as bridging legislation. The amount is still based on a fictitious return, but based on the actual composition of assets, broken down into three categories:
- savings
- other investments
- debts
The Dutch tax authorities use a different return for each asset component. You pay 31% wealth tax on the total fictitious return in 2022. From 2023, this will be 32%. The table below shows the fictitious returns per asset component (the percentages for 2023 are not known yet):
| Asset component | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savings | 0.01% | 0.01% | t.b.a. |
| Investments/other assets | 5.69% | 5.53% | t.b.a. |
| Debts | 2.46% | 2.46% | t.b.a. |
Tax-free allowance
Luckily, you do not have to pay tax on all your assets, because there is a tax-free allowance. For 2022, the tax-free allowance is €50,650 (€101,300 for tax partners). In 2023, the tax-free allowance is increased to €57,000 (€114,000 for tax partners).
Debt threshold
Debts lower your assets, but you should pay attention to the debt threshold here. For 2022, this debt threshold is € 3200 per person. In 2023, this threshold is raised to €3,400.
How is wealth tax calculated?
You may still choose between the old and new wealth tax calculations in your 2022 income tax return. In general, the new method is more beneficial for people with a lot of savings; the old method is more beneficial for people with main investments.
To give you an idea of the new calculation method, we give you an example of the flat-rate savings option.
Let’s assume that you do not have a tax partner. You have a total of € 40,000 in savings, € 80,000 in investments and a debt of € 8,000 (after the debt threshold, it leaves €4,800 for the calculation in 2022). This makes your total assets € 115,200.
Step 1: calculate the total fictitious return on assets
- Return on savings (€ 40,000 x 0%) = € 0
- Return on investment (€ 80,000 x 5.53%) = € 4424
- Return on debt (€ 4800 x 2.46%) = € -118.08
- Total return = € 4305.92
- The return percentage on the total assets is (4305.92 / 115,200 x 100) 3.74%.
Step 2: determine the basis for savings and investments
- € 64,550 (€ 115,200 minus the tax-free allowance of € 50,650 in 2022)
Step 3: determine the notional return and the wealth tax to be paid
- Notional return (3.74% of € 64,550) = € 2414.17
- Wealth tax (31% of € 2414.17) = € 748.39
Until 2021: fictitious return
Until 2021, box 3 calculates a notional return on your capital. This notional return is taxed against 31% in 2021. The tax authorities assume that the more capital you have, the more returns are achieved. There are three categories:
- Assets up to € 50,000. In the first category, you get a return of 0.03% on 67% of your assets and a return of 5.69% on the remaining 33%.
- Assets from € 50,000 to € 950,000. On the second write, you get a return of 0.03% on 21% of your assets and a return of 5.69% on the remaining 79%.
- Assets from € 950,000. On the third write, you get a return of 5.69% over 100% of your assets.
You pay 31% tax on the notional return in 2021.
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