Dutch Tax Return Calculator: Belastingaangifte

The Netherlands: withholding that is right until you own a home

A Dutch employer's loonheffing is built to be the final tax on the wages alone. It charges box 1 tax and the national insurance premiums and takes off the general and labour credits as it goes, so an employee who rents and gives nothing to charity usually finds the aangifte inkomstenbelasting comes out within a few euros of zero. The Belastingdienst fills in the jaaropgaaf, the WOZ value and the mortgage interest in advance; you check the return in Mijn Belastingdienst by 1 May, and one filed before 1 April usually has its answer by 1 July.

What turns the return into a refund is what the employer cannot see. Mortgage interest comes off the eigenwoningforfait, which is 0.35% of a typical home's WOZ value, and saves tax at most at the second bracket rate of 37.56% in 2026: whatever falls in the top bracket is charged back through the tariefsaanpassing at 11.94%. Where the forfait is larger than the interest, the Wet Hillen deduction takes 71.867% of the difference for 2026, down from 76 2/3% in 2025. Gifts to charities count above 1% of your income, at least €60, up to 10% of it.

The deductions do more than lower the taxed income. The general credit tapers on the verzamelinkomen, which the mortgage interest and gifts reduce, so a homeowner keeps more of it, while the labour credit follows the wages and does not move. From AOW age the first bracket loses its AOW premium, both credits fall to smaller tables and the ouderenkorting is added.

A refund need not wait for the return. A voorlopige aanslag, requested or changed in Mijn Belastingdienst, pays the expected refund in monthly instalments during the year, so the mortgage interest relief arrives with each month rather than a year later.