Dutch wealth tax Box 3

What is Box 3 (Dutch wealth tax)?

Box 3 is the part of Dutch income tax on your savings and investments.¹ Is your total above the tax-free allowance? Then you pay tax in Box 3. Box 3 starts from a deemed return, not from your real one. The Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) assumes a fixed, deemed return per type of asset and taxes that at 36%. That deemed return is often higher than what you actually earned. Since the Supreme Court rulings you may therefore report your actual return instead, and pay the lower amount. We work through both routes below.

Take Saskia and Jeroen, fiscal partners with €100,000 in savings and €100,000 in investments. Part of their investments sits abroad. A fiscal partner is a spouse, registered partner or qualifying cohabitant for tax purposes. Their case runs through this whole guide.

Your own home belongs in Box 1, not Box 3. And this is general information, not personal advice. First, the short version.

Which assets fall in Box 3?

Box 3 covers your savings, investments and other assets above the tax-free allowance. Bank balances count, in the Netherlands and abroad. So do shares and ETFs, crypto, a second home or rental property, and other investments. Debts above the threshold get their own deemed return, subtracted from your total. Saskia and Jeroen's €200,000 sits in two groups: bank savings and investments. Each group gets its own deemed return.

Some assets have their own rules and their own guide. We explain crypto in Box 3 on the crypto tax page. A holiday home has its own page on second-home tax. And green investments enjoy a partial exemption, covered on the green investments page.

One asset never counts. And it is the biggest one most people own.

What are the Box 3 rates in 2025 and 2026?

The Box 3 rate is 36% in both 2025 and 2026. It taxes a deemed return per asset type.² The table below lists every rate and allowance for both years.³ Two 2026 percentages are provisional: the Belastingdienst sets the savings and debt figures definitively early in 2027. Hold mostly savings? Our tax-free savings guide shows how far the allowance goes for you. One thing Box 3 does not have: a separate levy on sale profits. Why the Netherlands has no classic capital gains tax is a story of its own. We tell it on the no-capital-gains-tax page.

How is Box 3 tax calculated?

The Belastingdienst applies a deemed return per asset group. It then taxes the part above the allowance at 36%.² For Saskia and Jeroen in 2026 it goes like this. They use their combined assets on 1 January 2026. Deemed return: €100,000 savings × 1.28% = €1,280, plus €100,000 investments × 6.00% = €6,000. Together €7,280. Their return rate is €7,280 ÷ €200,000 = 3.64%. Taxable base: €200,000 minus the €118,714 partner allowance = €81,286. Deemed benefit: €81,286 × 3.64% = about €2,959. Tax: 36% × €2,959 = about €1,065. Their real interest and gains never enter this sum. Only the deemed percentages do. That is exactly why the next question matters.

Can you pay tax on your actual return?

Yes. You may report your actual return, and the Belastingdienst applies the lower of the two amounts.⁴ This is the tegenbewijsregeling, the counter-evidence rule that followed the Supreme Court rulings. Your actual return is all income from your assets (interest, dividend, rent) plus every change in value over the year. Gains on paper count too. Two things to know. The tax-free allowance does not apply in this calculation. And costs are not deductible, except interest on debts.

Back to Saskia and Jeroen. Their deemed route came to about €1,065. Suppose their actual return was €2,000 in a flat year. Then the actual-return route gives 36% × €2,000 = €720. That is lower, so €720 is what they pay. In a strong year the deemed route often wins. Then that lower amount stands.

From tax year 2025 you report your actual return inside your tax return. For 2017 to 2024 the Belastingdienst sends letters. You respond with the Opgaaf werkelijk rendement form, the actual-return declaration. We walk through that form step by step in the actual-return guide. Already had your final assessment? What a lowered Box 3 income means for it, we explain in the final-assessment article.

What is changing in 2026 and 2028?

For 2026 the rate stays 36%. The tax-free allowance rises to €59,357 (€118,714 with a fiscal partner).³ Parliament reversed a proposed cut of the allowance, so it goes up, not down. The yearly changes land in our Box 3 changes article. Every Budget Day update lands in the Prinsjesdag overview.

The bigger shift was planned for later, in the Wet werkelijk rendement. This new Box 3 system aimed to tax actual returns from 1 January 2028.⁵ The Tweede Kamer passed the bill on 12 February 2026. On Budget Day 2026 the cabinet postponed it. It asked the Eerste Kamer to hold the bill.⁶ That date is now open. The next word is expected in spring 2027. Under the proposal, costs such as advisory and transaction fees would become deductible. Your own home would stay in Box 1. How the new system would work, we explain in the Box 3 reform guide.

So what should you do with all this now?

What does this mean for you?

Every year, check your assets on 1 January, your deemed return and your actual return. Planning to shift assets around that date? First read our Box 3 arbitrage guide on what the reference-date rule catches. Arrive or leave mid-year? Your liability is prorated by months of residence. A tax treaty may also reduce Dutch tax on foreign assets. Was your actual return lower than your deemed benefit? Then reporting it saves real money. That is what happened to Saskia and Jeroen in the flat year. Keep your annual statements and transaction overviews, because they carry the proof. And watch for the Belastingdienst letters about older years. Prefer to have it done for you? We prepare and file the return, with Box 3 worked out both ways, through our tax return service. Want an advisor to check how you declare your savings, property and assets abroad? That is our wealth tax check. Or start with a free intro call and hear where you stand.

Box 3 sorted means exactly this kind of afternoon.