Budget Day 2025: the original Dutch tax proposals for 2026

Update: this article records the proposals

This article was published on 2 October 2025 to explain the Budget Day package. Parliament subsequently amended parts of it. The Senate adopted the 2026 Tax Plan package on 16 December 2025.

The main corrections are:

• the final second Box 1 threshold became €78,426, not €79,137;
• the proposed Box 3 burden increase was reversed;
• the faster phase-out of the Hillen deduction was used as alternative funding;
• other measures, including 21% VAT on accommodation and a €1,200 self-employed deduction, did take effect.

For the adopted rules, read the final 2026 Dutch Tax Plan.

What was proposed on Budget Day 2025?

On 16 September 2025, the government presented a package for the 2026 tax year. It combined income-tax changes with measures affecting businesses, wealth, property, mobility and inheritance tax.

At that point these were proposals. Budget Day starts parliamentary consideration; it does not fix every amount and measure in law.

Income tax and tax credits

The proposal contained three rates for people below the state-pension age: 35.70%, 37.56% and 49.50%. Limited inflation adjustment meant that thresholds rose less than they would have under full indexation.

The first threshold eventually became €38,883. The final second threshold was €78,426. Anyone comparing early Budget Day documents with a final calculation should therefore use the adopted tables.

Entrepreneurs and employment

The self-employed deduction fell to €1,200 in 2026. The SME profit exemption remained 12.7%. The tax treatment of certain extraterritorial costs was also tightened.

Other changes affected the labour tax credit and the work-related costs scheme. Which measure matters depends on the type of income and employment relationship.

Box 3: proposal and final outcome

The original package proposed covering the cost of the delayed new Box 3 system within Box 3. It included a lower tax-free allowance and a higher deemed return for other assets.

The House of Representatives reversed this burden increase. Funding shifted to a faster phase-out of the Hillen deduction. This is the clearest reason not to treat proposals and final law as interchangeable.

The separate debate about a system based on actual return continues under a different bill, with a possible start in 2028.

Property, VAT and mobility

Other prominent parts included:

• 21% VAT on hotel stays and other short-term accommodation from 2026;
• an 8% property-transfer-tax rate for homes not used as a main residence;
• an extension of the inheritance-tax filing period from 8 to 20 months;
• changes for zero-emission cars and the youngtimer scheme;
• an extension of reduced fuel excise duties until 1 January 2027.

How should you use this historical overview?

This article shows the direction chosen on Budget Day and which parts later changed. Do not use it as a current rate table. For 2026 calculations, Belastbaar uses final versioned tax data and shows the assumptions alongside the estimate.