How Box 3 is worked out
The deemed return per asset type, the tax-free part and the debt threshold, with a full worked calculation.
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Your Box 3 bill follows the mix you hold on 1 January. That mix is something you can shape. We read your own figures and say what is worth changing. If you arrived here during the year, that first year works differently.
Box 3 optimisation
Box 3 optimisation means shaping what you hold and when you hold it. Under the current rules the Belastingdienst does not start from your real profit. It starts from a deemed return, set per type of asset. When your real return turns out lower, you may report that figure instead. What you own on 1 January decides the whole year. Did you arrive during the year? Your M-form then covers that year. The M-form covers a partial tax year. Read tax residency for how that works.
In 2026 the deemed return is 1.28% on bank and savings balances. Investments and other assets are set at 6.00%. Tax on the outcome is 36%. The first €59,357 of your wealth stays free of tax, or €118,714 with a fiscal partner. That is the partner the Belastingdienst treats as yours for tax. The savings percentage is still provisional until early 2027.
The gap between 1.28% and 6.00% is where the room usually sits. The larger your holdings, the more that gap costs you in real money. Timing matters too. So does the part of your wealth that never enters the sum at all.
Substantial Box 3 wealth sits well above the tax-free amount. Savings, investments, a second home and money you lent out all count. Three levers decide what you pay. The first is your mix on 1 January. The second is debt, which lowers the taxed amount above a threshold. The third is the option to report your actual return when it is lower. The pages below explain each lever in full.
If part of your wealth sits outside the Netherlands, start at assets abroad. If your income comes from abroad, start at foreign income. Is the question really about settling here for the long run? Then thriving in the Netherlands is the page to start on. They all sit under my situation. Your wealth might sit in your own company instead. That is Box 2, not this page.
Your bill
Your bill comes from three choices the law makes for you. These three pages explain the calculation, the alternative route and the change ahead.
The deemed return per asset type, the tax-free part and the debt threshold, with a full worked calculation.
Is your actual return lower than the deemed one? You may then report the actual figure instead.
The bill named 1 January 2028 as the start of taxing your actual return. The cabinet postponed it on Budget Day 2026. The next word is expected in spring 2027.
Your options
You can genuinely change part of your Box 3 position. Green investments carry an exemption of their own. Gifting on paper moves wealth forward without moving cash. The reference date of 1 January has rules about shifting assets around it. Each move has conditions. Read them before you decide.
Certified green savings and investments carry their own exemption, plus a separate tax credit. The green investments page lists the amounts and conditions.
You can gift on paper and leave the money where it is. It moves wealth to the next generation under strict yearly conditions.
Moving assets just before the reference date and back again afterwards falls under its own rule. The page on shifting sets out what holds and what does not.
Your plan
At some point the question stops being tax and starts being planning. The size of your position sets the amount at stake. The mix between savings and investments decides how much room there is. A large position touches your investments, your gifts and what you want to leave behind. That is a conversation, not a page. So the advice follows your situation.
A check on how your Box 3 position is declared, here and abroad. This is tax advice, not product advice.
We look at what to do with cash that sits still and what that means for your Box 3 position.
We look at how gifts and inheritance affect your Box 3 position.
Frequently asked
These are the questions we hear most from people with a substantial Box 3 position. Have a look before you call. Ask your advisor
Substantial assets
Tell us what you hold and we go through it with you. You get a clear view of what your position costs. And of what is worth changing.
20 minutes, no obligation
What's included
One advisor
One dedicated advisor, start to finish
Fee-based
You pay us, nobody else does
Full situation
Tax, investments, gifts and the years ahead
Your language
Help in English or Dutch
How is this page fact-checked?
We check every page for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. Each one is written and reviewed by our qualified advisors, so the information stays clear, complete and correct.
Updated 26 September 2026
“I never start with a product. I start with your own figures and what they already cost you. Then we talk.”
Menno van der Made
Tax advisor
Your advisor
You speak to one dedicated advisor who knows your whole position. That advisor reads your own figures before saying anything. We look at what you hold and what it costs you. In English or Dutch.
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