Are notary fees tax deductible in the Netherlands?
Yes, part of your notary invoice is tax deductible. Only the part tied to arranging your mortgage counts. The notary fee for your mortgage deed (hypotheekakte) counts. The notary fee for your transfer deed (leveringsakte) does not. That is the deed that puts the house in your name.
Take Hugo and Meera. They buy a home in Utrecht for €345,000 and take out a mortgage to fund it. Their notary sends one combined invoice for both deeds. Only the mortgage-related part of that invoice ends up in their tax return. We work through their exact numbers further down this page.
In short
Two invoice lines, one rule: the mortgage-deed notary fee is deductible. The transfer-deed notary fee is not.
Transfer tax never counts: it is never deductible, on either deed. Nor is the land registry fee on the transfer deed.
Only your eigenwoningschuld qualifies: costs tied to a loan beyond that scope fall outside the deduction.
37.56% is the maximum deduction rate in 2026: above €78,426 income, that is the most you get back per euro.
Missed a year? You have 5 years: a request for ambtshalve vermindering (an official correction of a finalised assessment) can still add a forgotten deduction.
Which notary costs are deductible?
The costs of arranging your mortgage, not the costs of transferring the house. That one distinction, mortgage deed versus transfer deed, decides your whole notary invoice. The Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) publishes the full list on both sides of it.
Every cost tied to arranging the mortgage itself is deductible in one go, in the year you paid it. That covers more than just the notary line. The full list runs from your mortgage advisor's fee to construction-period interest. That interest counts if you paid it between the provisional contract and the mortgage deed. Our overview of homeowner tax deductions lists every deductible cost around your home.
| Cost item | Deductible? |
|---|---|
| Advice and arrangement fee, mortgage advisor | Yes |
| Bereidstellingsprovisie (fee to hold your quoted rate) | Yes |
| Notary fee, mortgage deed (hypotheekakte) | Yes |
| Land registry fee, mortgage deed | Yes |
| Valuation report (taxatie) for the loan | Yes |
| NHG application fee (national mortgage guarantee) | Yes |
| Boeterente (early-repayment penalty interest) | Yes |
| Construction-period interest, between the provisional contract and the mortgage deed | Yes |
| Estate-agent's brokerage fee (makelaarscourtage) | No |
| Transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) | No |
| Notary fee, transfer deed (leveringsakte) | No |
| Land registry fee, transfer deed | No |
| Bank-guarantee costs | No |
One rule limits every deductible item on that list at once, before you even reach the invoice.
How much of that deduction do you actually get back?
You get back your own marginal tax rate, capped at 37.56% in 2026.² A deductible cost lowers your taxable income. It does not land straight back in your account.
Earn above €78,426 in 2026, and the cap applies, even where your own top rate is higher.² Earn below it, and you simply get your own marginal rate back, no cap involved. Your marginal rate is the percentage you pay on your last earned euro.
| Figure | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum deduction rate at the cap | 37.48% | 37.56% |
| Income threshold where the cap applies | €76,817 | €78,426 |
How much does this come to on Hugo and Meera's invoice?
€725 of their notary invoice is deductible.
On their €345,000 purchase, the mortgage-deed line comes to about €725, fee plus land registry. All of it is deductible. The transfer-deed line runs to about €640, a similar fee plus its own land registry charge. That one is not deductible. Transfer tax adds another €6,900 at 2%, also not deductible.⁴ Their joint income is above €78,426, so the capped rate of 37.56% applies.
| Invoice line | Amount | Deductible? |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage-deed notary fee + land registry | ≈ €725 | Yes |
| Transfer-deed notary fee + land registry | ≈ €640 | No |
| Transfer tax (2% of €345,000) | ≈ €6,900 | No |
| Total deductible | €725 | — |
| Illustrative refund, at the 2026 capped rate (37.56%) with income above €78,426 | ≈ €272 | — |
Hugo and Meera add that €725 to their tax return as a deduction. At the 2026 capped rate, that comes to roughly €272 back. It's an insight into how the mechanism works, not a promise of your own number.
Forgot to claim it? You can still fix it.
You can still claim it, up to 5 years after the year your tax assessment concerns.³ Not every buyer catches this deduction the first time round.
File a verzoek om ambtshalve vermindering and explain which cost you missed and why. Belastingdienst decides within 8 weeks.³ Miss that 5-year window too, and a late request still gets a hearing.³ You do need a good reason for the delay.
The mortgage-deed fee is one item in a wider set. Our guide to your tax return after buying a house walks the whole first-year return through. And our tax deductions guide maps the rest of the system.
¹ belastingdienst.nl, Eigen woning, welke kosten mag ik aftrekken? · Accessed
² belastingdienst.nl, Minder aftrek voor uw eigen woning als u een hoog inkomen hebt · Accessed
³ belastingdienst.nl, Te laat voor bezwaar? Doe een verzoek om vermindering · Accessed
⁴ belastingdienst.nl, Het tarief van de overdrachtsbelasting · Accessed
Common questions about deducting notary costs
My notary sent one combined invoice. Which part can I deduct?
Only part of them. The mortgage-deed line is deductible. The transfer-deed line is not, whatever else changes on the invoice.
Is the notary fee for the leveringsakte (transfer deed) deductible?
No, never. Belastingdienst treats the transfer-deed notary fee and its land registry charge as buying costs, not mortgage costs. Neither is deductible.
Is transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) deductible?
No. Transfer tax is never deductible, regardless of which deed it's billed against or how the notary splits the invoice.
What is the maximum deduction rate in 2026?
37.56% in 2026. That maximum deduction rate applies once your income passes €78,426, even if your own top tax rate is higher.
What if I forgot to claim this deduction in an earlier year?
You can go back 5 years, counting from the tax year your assessment covers. Send a verzoek om ambtshalve vermindering naming the cost you missed. The Belastingdienst then reviews your assessment again. A late request past 5 years can still get a hearing, with a good reason.
Does the eigenwoningschuld rule affect my deduction?
Yes. Your eigenwoningschuld is the loan behind your own home. Only that part feeds the deduction. Anything you borrowed on top of it stays outside. The bijleenregeling can also keep part of your loan outside the eigenwoningschuld.