Who is this check for?
It is for anyone with a Dutch job offer or a new Dutch job. Work through the five checks in order. Most checks also name the common slip.
How the ruling works and what it is worth is in our guide to the 30% ruling. The salary amounts live on the 30% ruling salary threshold page. Self-employed without a salary? The ruling is for employees only, so your check ends at question one.
The table after check 5 lists the documents per check. After the table, Aiko runs through all five checks as an example.
The five checks
Your job: a salaried job with the employer who applies with you.
Your salary: high enough once the allowance is left out.
Where you lived: outside the border zone long enough before you started.
Earlier time here: past jobs or visits in the Netherlands shorten the five years.
The application: filed jointly within four months, so it applies from day one.
Check 1: are you employed by the employer who applies?
Yes, if you have a salaried job with them. Freelancers and business owners without a salary do not qualify, whatever they earn.²
Check 2: is your salary above the norm for your age?
Yes, if your annual salary clears the norm without the tax-free allowance counted in.² There are two norms. Below the age of 30, a Dutch master's or a foreign degree of the same level gets you the lower one.²
The amounts change every year. This year's norm is on the salary threshold page. That page also covers what changes in 2027.
A common slip is a salary that only clears the norm with the allowance included. The test looks at what stays taxable. Just under the norm once the allowance is taken off? A smaller allowance can keep enough of the salary taxable.³
Check 3: did you live far enough from the Dutch border?
Yes, if you lived far enough away for long enough.² That means over 150 km from the Dutch border, in a straight line. Count back 24 months from your start date. More than 16 of them must pass that test.²
That rules out Belgium and Luxembourg completely. It also rules out parts of Germany, France and the United Kingdom.² Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten count as abroad.² So do Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.²
A common slip is checking only your last address. Count every month in those two years.
Check 4: have you worked or lived in the Netherlands before?
If not, your ruling can run the full five years. If you have, the Belastingdienst takes that earlier time off the five years.² That shortens your ruling. It does not rule it out.
Some earlier time is left out of the count.² A period that ended more than 25 years before your current job does not count. Nor do work visits adding up to fewer than 20 days a year. Private visits of up to six weeks a year are left out too. So is one private visit of up to three months in a row.²
A common slip is forgetting an internship or a study year here. What happens when your ruling runs out? Read our page on when the 30% ruling ends.
Check 5: can you and your employer apply within four months?
Yes, if the application reaches the Belastingdienst within four months of your first working day. The ruling then applies from that first day.¹ ³ You and your employer fill in the application form together. You hear back within eight weeks.²
Your employer does not have to pay the full 30%. Agree the allowance before you apply.² The clock starts on day one of the job, not when you signed or moved.
| Check | What to have ready |
|---|---|
| 1. Your job | Your signed employment contract |
| 2. Your salary | The salary in your contract and your master's diploma if you use the lower norm |
| 3. Where you lived | Your addresses and dates for the two years before you started |
| 4. Earlier time here | Dates of any earlier work or stay here |
| 5. The application | The form, signed by you and your employer, with the documents it asks for |
What does your result mean?
Checks 1 to 3 decide whether the ruling is possible at all. Checks 4 and 5 decide how long it lasts and from when. The Belastingdienst still decides, in a written decision.² A single ‘not sure’ is the condition to settle before you file. A clear no on check 1, 2 or 3 means no ruling for this job. Researchers, trainee specialists and the two border routes above are the exceptions. A salary just under the norm can still pass with a smaller allowance.
Take Aiko. She lived in Osaka until she moved for a data job in Rotterdam, starting on 1 March 2026. Checks 1 to 3 are a clear yes. Check 4 is not, because she did a five-month internship in Amsterdam in 2022. Five years is 60 months. Minus her five months, that leaves 55 months. That is four years and seven months. For check 5, her application has to reach the Belastingdienst by the end of June 2026.
This is general information, not personal advice.
Frequently asked
Can I apply for the 30% ruling on my own?
No. You and your employer file the application together.² Your employer pays the tax-free allowance through your salary. So they need to agree to it first.
Is the 30% ruling the same as the highly skilled migrant permit?
No. The highly skilled migrant scheme is a residence permit from the IND (the Dutch immigration service). The 30% ruling is a tax benefit.³ Having one does not give you the other. Read more about the permit on our page about hiring highly skilled migrants.
My salary is just under the norm. Is there a way in?
Sometimes. Your employer can pay a smaller tax-free allowance. Your taxable salary then stays above the norm.³ Whether that works depends on the amounts. You find them on the salary threshold page.
Does my ruling move with me to a new employer?
Within the same group of companies it stays valid, as long as you still meet the conditions.² With an employer outside that group, start within three months of leaving your old job. Then apply again within four months.²
Prefer to check it with us?
Bring your answers, including the one you were not sure about. We tell you where you stand before you file anything.