Healthcare allowance in the Netherlands

What is healthcare allowance in the Netherlands?

Healthcare allowance is money the government pays you each month toward your Dutch health-insurance premium. The Dutch call it zorgtoeslag.

It is not a discount on your premium. You pay your insurer in full. The Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) then pays you a monthly amount toward it.

The allowance is means-tested. Two things decide it: your income for the year, and your savings on 1 January. If both stay low enough, you qualify.

It is one of the Dutch allowances, the toeslagen. The others help with rent (rent allowance), childcare (childcare allowance) and raising children (child budget).

Take Priya. She moved to the Netherlands last year on a starting salary. She has Dutch health insurance and wonders whether she can get zorgtoeslag and whether her residence permit matters. We follow her through this page.

Who can get healthcare allowance in 2026?

Four things decide it: your age, your insurance, your income and your savings. Each one has to fit.

You must be 18 or older. You need a Dutch health-insurance policy, the basisverzekering (basic insurance) that most residents must hold.

Your income has to stay below €40,857¹ on your own. With a toeslagpartner, the person you share a household with, the joint limit is €51,142. Above those amounts the allowance is nil.

Your savings on 1 January matter just as much. We come back to that limit, and the reason the date is so important, further down. Income here means your toetsingsinkomen, roughly your taxable income for the whole year. Your toeslagpartner is the benefit partner named in the table below.

How much healthcare allowance can you get?

The most you receive is €129 a month alone, or €246 with a partner. Those maximums apply at a lower income.

You get the full amount up to an income of about €29,500 a year. Above that, the allowance tapers down. It reaches zero at the income ceiling for your situation.

Over a full year the maximum works out to about €1,548 on your own or about €2,952 with a partner. Your own figure depends on your income to the euro.

The Belastingdienst has a free trial calculation, the proefberekening, that gives you your exact amount. Priya earns €26,000, below the €29,500 mark. So she receives the maximum, up to €129 a month. That €29,500 mark applies to a single person like Priya. With a partner the full amount runs to a higher joint income.

How do your savings affect healthcare allowance?

Your savings on 1 January decide the whole year. The Belastingdienst looks at your capital on that one date only.

On your own you may hold up to €146,011². With a benefit partner the limit is €184,633. Savings and investments abroad count toward it too.

Here is the part that excludes people. Over the limit on 1 January means no zorgtoeslag for the entire year. Anything already paid to you has to go back. Under the limit that day, and you keep the allowance all year, even if your savings rise later.

Priya has only modest savings, so she stays well under €146,011. Even so, the date matters for her too. What counts is her balance on 1 January, whatever it grows to later in the year.

Can you get healthcare allowance as a non-Dutch national?

Yes, non-Dutch nationals can qualify, but the rule depends on your nationality. Your health insurance and income conditions stay the same.

If you are from the EU or the EEA, you need a valid residence status confirmed by your municipality. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein count the same way. No separate permit is required.

From any other country, you need a valid residence permit, a verblijfsvergunning³. You stay eligible while a permit application, or an objection or appeal against a refusal, is still pending.

Priya is not an EU national, but she holds a valid residence permit. So she meets the nationality condition, alongside her Dutch insurance and her income.

How do you apply, and what happens after?

You apply yourself through Mijn toeslagen with your DigiD. You do this once, and the allowance then runs on until your situation changes.

You can apply once you are registered with your municipality and hold a Dutch health-insurance policy. A partner living abroad needs a BSN (citizen service number) first. The Belastingdienst usually decides within about five weeks. You can still claim back to 1 September of the following year.

The allowance is paid monthly in advance, based on your estimated income. After the year, the Belastingdienst compares it against your actual income. Estimate too low and you receive a top-up. Estimate too high and you repay the difference.

Priya registered, took out Dutch insurance and applied through Mijn toeslagen. Her decision arrived within a few weeks. We do not file the application for you. We work out whether you qualify and how it fits your wider tax picture.

What does this mean for you?

You now know the limits, the amounts and the 1 January rule. The next step is your own situation.

Compare your income with the ceiling for your household. Watch your total savings, including anything abroad, as the year turns. If you are not a Dutch national, confirm that your residence status meets the rule.

The same income, partner and savings that decide your zorgtoeslag also shape your tax return. We review both together, so your full situation lines up. You can see how we handle a full return in our guide to the Dutch tax return. Priya had her allowance and her first Dutch return checked in one call.