To help you navigate through the maze of court rulings, the government's proposals and commitments, and still unanswered questions, we have conveniently arranged all relevant information for you. We will continue to update this page in response to new information.
Background and introduction Dutch Income Tax
In 2001, after approximately 35 years, the Income Tax 1964 had to make way for the box system of the Income Tax Act 2001: box 1 for income from work and home, box 2 for income from substantial interest and box 3 for income from savings and investments.
More than twenty years later, Box 3 appears to have been shaken to its core due to all the criticism from society regarding the unrealistic fixed returns imputed over savings in this box and the social demand for taxation based on actual returns.
Christmas Judgment
The final blow came from the Dutch Supreme Court in 2021 with the Christmas Judgment. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that box 3 as of 2017, was no longer tenable because it violated the fundamental rights of taxpayers. This judgment by the Dutch Supreme Court has caused quite a stir, but has also raised many questions.
The Dutch government had previously been able to parry the social demand for taxation based on actual rather than deemed returns with technical arguments. However, now the government has to come up with concrete proposals for a taxation system based on actual returns. In addition, the Dutch cabinet had to offer legal redress to the taxpayers who had been duped.
Restoration of rights and bridging regime
Two laws on the box 3 system were adopted on December 20, 2022. One of them concerns the codification of the restoration of rights following the Christmas Judgment. The second law regulates the bridging legislation for the years 2023 to 2026.
Tax on actual returns
On September 8, 2023, the outgoing cabinet published the proposal ‘Wet werkelijk rendement box 3’ ('Actual Return Box 3 Act') for consultation. The main rule of this design of the new box 3 system is to tax actual returns according to an asset accumulation system. The proposed system should come into effect on January 1, 2027. However, it is up to a subsequent cabinet to submit the final bill for a new Box 3 system based on actual returns.
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