Childcare allowance in the Netherlands

What is childcare allowance in the Netherlands?

Childcare allowance is a government contribution toward the cost of registered childcare.¹ Dienst Toeslagen, part of the Belastingdienst, pays it into your account every month. It does so while your child is in care and you work or study.

One limit decides whether your care counts. The provider must stand in the Landelijk Register Kinderopvang, the national childcare register known as the LRK. Care by family or friends outside that register does not qualify, however reliable it is.

Take Lucia. She moved to the Netherlands last year. Her son started at a registered daycare in January, and she and her partner both work. Her questions are the ones this page answers: does she qualify, how much comes back, and what happens if her income changes. Her situation is worked out further down. For the full picture of Dutch allowances, start at our allowances overview.

Who can get childcare allowance?

You qualify if you work, study or follow a route back to work. Your child must also go to registered childcare. Have a partner? Then they meet that same condition. Dienst Toeslagen checks four things:

• You work, study, follow an integration course or take part in a route back to work. The same goes for your toeslagpartner, the partner Dienst Toeslagen counts with you.
• You receive kinderbijslag for the child. Or you receive a foster-care contribution. Or you support them yourself.
• The child is registered at your address.
• The childcare provider stands in the LRK register.

One extra condition applies if you are not Dutch. You need a residence permit that entitles you to allowances, or registration as an EU or EEA national. Lucia holds a residence permit through her work, so that part is settled for her. Not sure where you stand? That is the kind of question we answer in one conversation.

How much is childcare allowance in 2026?

Dienst Toeslagen reimburses up to 96% of your childcare costs. That applies within a maximum hourly rate and a cap on hours. Three things set your amount: your toetsingsinkomen, the hours your child actually attends, and the type of care.

Your toetsingsinkomen is the joint income Dienst Toeslagen assesses you on. Your toeslagpartner is the partner Dienst Toeslagen registers you with, normally a spouse or someone you live and share a household with. If you have a toeslagpartner, their income counts too. The lower that figure, the higher your percentage. Higher earners still receive a share, because childcare allowance has no income ceiling and no capital limit. No other Dutch allowance drops both limits.² Do you or your partner have foreign income, or a 30% ruling? Then ask us how that counts in your toetsingsinkomen.

Two caps apply on top. Dienst Toeslagen reimburses at most 230 hours per child a month, and at most a set hourly rate per type of care. Does your provider charge more than that rate? Then you pay the difference yourself. The table below holds the 2026 figures.

How is your childcare allowance worked out?

Dienst Toeslagen caps your hours and your hourly rate first. Then it applies a percentage to what is left. That order matters, because the caps decide the amount Dienst Toeslagen applies your percentage to.

Back to Lucia. Her son attends daycare for 140 hours a month, comfortably under the 230-hour cap, so all 140 hours count. Her provider charges €11.20 an hour, just under the €11.23 maximum for daycare, so the full rate counts too. That gives an eligible cost of 140 × €11.20 = €1,568 a month.

Her percentage comes from the joint toetsingsinkomen she and her partner declare. It runs up to 96% and falls as income rises. We work that percentage out with you against your actual figures, or you run the Belastingdienst proefberekening yourself. The proefberekening is the Belastingdienst's own trial calculation for allowances. The table below sets out the steps.

How do you apply for childcare allowance?

You apply through Mijn Toeslagen, the Belastingdienst's allowance portal, using your DigiD. DigiD is the national login you also use for your tax return. No DigiD yet? Apply for one as soon as you have your BSN and your municipal registration.

Have your childcare contract to hand. You need the provider's LRK number, the agreed hourly rate and the hours per month. You can claim up to three months back from the month you apply, so applying late still recovers part of the cost. Dienst Toeslagen usually decides within five weeks and at the latest within thirteen.³ After that it pays monthly, in advance.

We work out whether you qualify and make sure the income figure the allowance is based on is right. Prefer not to file it yourself? We can file the application for you and keep it up to date through the year.

What changes with the 2029 reform?

From 2029 childcare is expected to become nearly free for working parents.⁴ The government plans to pay 96% of the cost straight to the childcare provider. It would be the same percentage for every working parent, regardless of income. Today 96% is the ceiling of a scale that falls as income rises. The allowance as you know it would then disappear, and with it the yearly estimate and the repayments that follow from it.

The date has already moved once, from 2027 to 2029. The consultation closed in November 2025. The bill goes to the Tweede Kamer later in 2026, so the rules are not final. The Tweede Kamer is the lower house of the Dutch parliament. The first step is already in place: the reimbursement percentages went up in 2026.

Until the law passes, the current rules and the 2026 amounts on this page apply. We update this page as the bill moves.

What does this mean for you?

You now know the rates, the caps and the order Dienst Toeslagen works in. Four things are worth checking this week:

• Confirm your provider stands in the LRK register. Care outside it never qualifies, whatever the contract says.
• Apply within three months of the month care starts. That way you lose none of the retroactive window.
• Keep your income estimate current through the year. That is what keeps a repayment from arriving later.
• Earn abroad, or does your partner? Then check how that income counts toward your toetsingsinkomen.

That last point runs through your Dutch tax return as well, because the same income figure drives both.

Lucia does the same. Her eligible cost is clear, so her one open task is the income estimate.