Reduction of Tax-Free Capital (Box 3)

In the Netherlands, income from assets (savings, investments) is taxed in the so-called "Box 3". Assets include:

• savings
• bonds
• shares
• secondary real estate

The government does not look at the actual return on your assets (for example, how much you actually earned on shares or deposits). Instead, it assumes you receive a standard income depending on the type of assets. The return is measured in percentages that change annually and are used to calculate tax, regardless of whether you actually earned anything.

This practice has been criticized for years, as people with low or zero actual returns are still forced to pay tax.

In 2021, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that this system was unfair, as it violates taxpayers' rights.

A new system accounting for actual income will be introduced in 2028 — meaning what you actually earned on your assets. This will make taxation fairer, but also more complex to administer.

The state expects that revenue will increase as a result of the reform, but due to various reasons (overloaded tax authority, prolonged infrastructure updates) it is forced to postpone its introduction from 2027 to 2028.

As a result, the state will lose expected additional revenue in 2027, creating a budget deficit of €2.55 billion. To compensate, the government is reducing the tax-free capital starting 1 January 2026 (the portion of wealth on which no tax is paid) from €57,684 to €51,396.

Currently, you pay Box 3 tax if your capital exceeds €57,684. From 2026, this threshold will be lowered to €51,396. If you have a fiscal partner (e.g., spouse), the threshold is doubled — to €102,792.

This means that in 2026, more people will start paying tax on wealth income, because the tax-free capital threshold will be lower.