Second-Home Tax in the Netherlands: What You Pay

How is a second home taxed in the Netherlands?

A second home brings two national taxes. Buying it triggers transfer tax, the overdrachtsbelasting.³ Owning it puts the home in Box 3, the Dutch tax on your wealth.¹ Local taxes come on top.

Your main home works differently. The home you live in sits in Box 1, with its own rules and its own mortgage-interest deduction.¹ A second home never gets that deduction.

A holiday home you own outside the Netherlands also counts in your Dutch return.¹

Take Marco. He lives abroad and owns a holiday home on the Zeeland coast worth €250,000. We follow his tax through the whole page.

What tax do you pay when you buy a second home?

You pay 8% transfer tax on the purchase price in 2026.³ That is the overdrachtsbelasting, the tax on buying property. You pay 2% on your own home, but a second home does not qualify for that low rate.³

In 2025 the rate was 10.4%, so buying in 2026 is cheaper.³ For other property, like land or business premises, the rate stays 10.4%.³

A notary normally files and pays the transfer tax for you at the transfer.⁴ Bought without a notary? Then you file and pay yourself, within one month of becoming the owner.⁴

For Marco, the 8% falls on his €250,000 holiday home. That is €20,000 in transfer tax, paid once, at purchase.

How much Box 3 tax do you pay on a second home each year?

A second home sits in Box 3 each year you own it on 1 January.² Box 3 taxes it on a deemed return of 6.00% in 2026, not on your real gain.² It applies that percentage to the home's value on 1 January of the tax year.²

For a home in the Netherlands you use the WOZ value, the municipal valuation.¹ For tax year 2026 you use the 2026 WOZ decision from your municipality.¹ That decision values your home on 1 January 2025, one year earlier.¹

The Netherlands taxes this home whether you live here or abroad.⁴ You file the same WOZ value in Box 3 either way.⁴

A loan on a second home brings no mortgage-interest deduction.² Instead, the debt lowers your Box 3 wealth. Only the part above €3,800 counts, the so-called debt threshold.² Above the tax-free allowance of €59,357 per person, you pay 36% on the deemed return.² With a tax partner, the allowance counts double for you together.²

Marco has €20,000 in savings beside the holiday home, and a €100,000 mortgage on it. His Box 3 tax for 2026 comes to about €3,001. Here is the full calculation. The table below uses the 2026 deemed returns. The rates are 6.00% for the home, 1.28% for savings and 2.70% for debts. Marco's holiday home has a WOZ value of €250,000. Net assets are what you own minus debt above the threshold.

Do you pay tax on renting out a second home?

Usually not. Under the deemed-return system, rental income from a second home is normally not taxed on top of Box 3.⁵ You already pay Box 3 on the value of the home, whether it stands empty or full.

Offer hotel-style extras and that can change. Provide meals or bedding to your guests and the income can become taxable.⁵

Marco lets the home a few weeks a year, and nothing changes here. You can read more about letting out a second home on our guide to rental income tax.

How is a holiday home abroad taxed?

A holiday home abroad also sits in Box 3, on the same 6.00% deemed return.¹ You declare its market value in an unoccupied state.¹ That is the value on 1 January of the tax year.¹ For 2026 that means 1 January 2026. For a home in the Netherlands you use the WOZ value instead.¹

The country where the home stands usually taxes it too. To stop you paying twice, the Netherlands gives relief, the aftrek ter voorkoming van dubbele belasting.¹ It lowers the Dutch Box 3 tax on the part that belongs to the foreign home.

What local taxes apply to a second home?

Your municipality charges property tax, the OZB, on the WOZ value every year.⁴ The rate is a percentage of the value, and each municipality sets its own.⁴ There is no national figure.

Some places add more. A forensenbelasting (a second-resident tax) can apply if you keep a furnished home in a municipality where you do not live. A toeristenbelasting (tourist tax) can apply when you let the home to guests. Your municipality tells you what applies.⁴

What is happening to the Box 3 reform?

On Budget Day 2026 the cabinet postponed the move to taxing your real return.² That change was planned for 1 January 2028, under the Wet werkelijk rendement. It asked the Eerste Kamer to hold the bill. That date is now open. The next word is expected in spring 2027.⁶

Selling your second home at a profit is not taxed today.² We track the reform on our guide to the Box 3 reform.

What should you do now?

Start by splitting the one-off cost from the yearly cost. The transfer tax is a single 8% bill at purchase.³ The Box 3 tax comes back every year you own the home.²

Own a home in the Netherlands? Then use the WOZ value and expect the yearly Box 3 bill.¹ Own one abroad? Then declare its market value and ask about double-tax relief.¹

A second home rarely sits on its own. It pulls in Box 3, a mortgage without a deduction, and sometimes a home in another country. We put it all in one return. Our page on help with your tax return shows what we take off your hands. For Marco, that means €20,000 once and about €3,001 in Box 3 each year.