Menno van der Made

People do not usually find their way into tax through a festival crowd. For me, though, that is where part of it started.

I studied law at the University of Amsterdam. Along the way I took a minor in tax law, just to find out whether tax was something I enjoyed. It turned out I did, far more than I had expected. To see where that could lead, I joined TaxSavers as a working student.

Two things stood out straight away. TaxSavers was not the dusty office I had half expected. It was full of young, genuinely knowledgeable people, with real attention for the contact with clients. That mattered to me. In an earlier side job in field marketing, I had promoted big brands like Coca-Cola at festivals. That is where I discovered how much I enjoy working with people. At TaxSavers, my interest in tax and my love of client contact finally came together.

I started as a junior adviser, and today I lead our advisory team. My work centres on the moments when your Dutch tax situation changes. Think of the 30% ruling coming to an end, a move to the Netherlands from the United States, or foreign investments that suddenly fall into Box 3. Those moments count. A few months either way can mean thousands of euros in tax. That is exactly when clear advice matters most.

In practice, I help internatiols with cross-border questions. A lot of it is US pensions under the tax treaty between the Netherlands and the United States. Think of 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. I also advise on other foreign pensions, like a Malaysian EPF or a Thrift Savings Plan moved into an SDIRA. And I help people plan ahead when their 30% ruling is about to expire. That will matter even more with the new tax on actual return, which we expect in 2028. Finally, I advise on foreign assets. A treaty often decides whether the Netherlands may tax them at all.

I write articles because there is a lot of nonsense online, especially about the 30% ruling and Box 3. A good article gives clarity at the right moment. Sometimes that is years before someone ever calls an adviser. And that is exactly why it is worth doing.