Taxes after death in the Netherlands

What happens to your taxes after a death in the Netherlands?

After a death, the Belastingdienst still expects a final return for that year.¹ This page covers the income-tax side of that year.

Two returns usually come into play. One is the final return for the person who died, the other the surviving partner's own return for that year. The surviving partner can also choose to count as fiscal partners for the whole year. That is the tax status for a couple.

This page does not cover inheritance tax. That is a separate return, and we handle it on our page about the inheritance-tax return. The forms themselves, like the F-form for the person who died, live on our F-form page.

Take Sofia. Her husband died this spring, and they lived together in the Netherlands. She now faces his final return, her own return and one real choice. We follow her through this page. Are you an heir but not the partner? Then the whole-year choice does not apply.

Does the fiscal partnership continue for the whole year?

The partnership ends at death, but the survivor may choose the whole year.² You make that choice in the return, together with the person who represents the heirs.

Why choose it? As full-year partners, you may divide shared income and deductions freely across the two returns. That includes items from after the death. You place each amount on whichever return works out better.

For Sofia this is the heart of it. Keeping the partnership for the whole year lets her use both partners' figures across the two returns.

What does the whole-year choice change in Box 3?

Full-year partners share one Box 3 tax-free amount, twice as high. Box 3 is the tax on savings and investments.

Everyone has a tax-free amount, the heffingsvrij vermogen. In 2026 that is €59,357 per person. Full-year partners share a combined €118,714. The table below sets the figures side by side.

The Belastingdienst then taxes Box 3 at 36% over a calculated return, not your real return. So a higher tax-free amount can keep more of your combined wealth out of Box 3 entirely.

How does the whole-year choice work out?

The choice can move much of your combined wealth out of Box 3. Here is how it lands for Sofia.

Say Sofia and her late husband held €110,000 in combined savings on the reference date, 1 January. On her own, her tax-free amount is €59,357, which leaves €50,643 in Box 3.

As full-year partners, the tax-free amount is €118,714. Their €110,000 sits fully below it, so nothing is left in Box 3. The table below follows each step.

The exact tax then depends on the calculated return for the year, which we work out with you when we file. You can see how we handle a full return on our page about the Dutch tax return.

How and when do you file the returns?

You can usually file both returns online from 1 March. That is 1 March in the year after the death. You do it with a survivor's authorisation, the so-called nabestaandenmachtiging.

With that authorisation you file the deceased's return and your own together online. The Belastingdienst fills in their details for you. You log in with your own DigiD under "Filing for someone else", because the deceased's DigiD no longer works. DigiD is the personal login you already use for Dutch government services.

Prefer paper? You use an F-form for the person who died and a P-form for yourself. One shared paper form is not possible. You request both through the Belastingdienst's helpline for surviving relatives. The step-by-step form mechanics live on our F-form page.

The Belastingdienst writes to the correspondence address when a final return is needed. Did no letter arrive within five months and you expect a refund or a bill? Then file on your own initiative.

What happens to an inheritance and to allowances?

An inheritance counts as Box 3 wealth the moment you inherit.³ It counts from the day you are entitled, even while the estate is undivided.

You declare it in Box 3 from 1 January of the following year. Inherited property is the exception, declared in the year of inheriting and usually taxed from the next year. Have you not yet paid the inheritance tax? You may deduct it as a Box 3 debt, and you may estimate the amount for now.

Inheritance tax itself is a separate return, which we cover on our inheritance-tax return page. It is not part of the income-tax return this page is about.

What does this mean for you?

You now know the final return, the whole-year choice and the Box 3 effect. The next step is your own situation.

Look at whether the whole-year choice helps you, especially for Box 3. Review any inheritance that now sits in your wealth. And keep an eye on your allowances.

You do not have to sort this out alone at a hard time. That leaves you free to focus on the people around you. Sofia made the whole-year choice with us and kept her savings out of Box 3.

Gift tax and inheritance tax follow the same law. The overview is on our page about gift tax in the Netherlands.