Dear clients,
As the year draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude for the great new working relationship we have started this year. Working together with you and your employees has been an absolute pleasure so far.
We would like to inform you about the new salary criteria the IND will apply to immigration applications for Highly Skilled Migrant in 2024 as well as about developments in the regulations surrounding the 30% ruling:
Salary criteria for highly skilled migrants
The IND raises the salary criteria for highly skilled migrants by a few percent every year. The following salary criteria apply for 2024:
- Highly skilled migrant aged 30 or older: € 5,331
- Highly skilled migrant under the age of 30: € 3,909
- Orientation year (reduced salary criterion): € 2,801
- European Blue Card: €6,245
The above salary criteria are exclusive of holiday allowance; any 13th month and/or other allowances may only be taken into account if they have been contractually agreed upon and are paid out monthly to the employee’s bank account.
30% ruling
One of the conditions to qualify for the 30% ruling is a ‘specific expertise’ in the form of a minimum annual salary in the Netherlands. For 2024, this has been determined as follows:
- For employees aged 30 or older: €46,107 (up from €41,954 in 2023)
- For employees under the age of 30 with a master’s degree: €35,048 (up from €31,891 in 2023)
The Dutch Tax Authorities use a list- evaluated NUFFIC- with qualifying and non-qualifying master’s degrees. If a master’s degree does not qualify the 30% ruling may still applicable, however, based on the higher salary criterion. A diploma evaluation by NUFFIC can be time consuming to obtain with a processing time of minimum 4-6 weeks. The fee for a credential evaluation is €149.
The above gross annual salary includes contractually agreed holiday allowance, 13th month and/or bonus, but excludes the tax-free allowance.
If the above salary is ultimately not achieved over the year, the 30% ruling is withdrawn for the entire year and will not be granted again. It is also important to keep an eye on the age of the employee. If an employee turns 30, the higher salary criterion mentioned above will apply from the month following the month in which the employee had his or her birthday.
Capping applicable salary
From 2024, there will also be a maximum amount over which the 30% ruling can be applied. This maximum amount is equal to that stated in the Standards for Remuneration Act (de Wet Normering Topinkomens, or WNT standard, popularly known as the Balkenende standard), which increases from €223,000 in 2023 to €233,00 for 2024 (including holiday allowance, year-end bonus, pension contribution and taxable expenses such as a taxable travel allowance). This amount is indexed every year, just like the minimum annual salary mentioned above.
For employees for whom the 30% ruling was already granted and active in 2022, a transition period has been established due to which the capping measure will not apply until 2026. For employees for whom the 30% ruling was applied in 2023,the capping measures will go into effect as of 1 January 2024.
Changes to 30% tax ruling
On 26 October, during the last day of parliament before Dutch general elections on 22 November, a majority of MPs voted in favour of an amendment to reduce the application of the 30% ruling as proposed by Pieter Omtzigt. A consecutive vote on this matter is expected on 19 December. A substantial number of members of the Senate have doubts about the new Tax Plan; however, it may not be possible to stop the introduction of the new ruling anymore at this point. There is therefore still unclarity about the 2024 Tax Plan. We will inform you as soon as we hear official news from the Belastingdienst
If the Senate also votes in favour, this amendment will come into effect per 1 January 2024. From that date onwards, the percentage of the gross salary that can be paid out net will still be 30% during the first 20 months; however, it will be reduced to 20% during the second 20 months and to 10% during the last 20 months.
This reduction will not affect employees who had the ruling in 2023 already and it is suggested that the same will go for those for whom the application has been submitted in 2023 but receive the decision in 2024. These important details are unfortunately not fully clear at the moment.
Employees who had the ruling with a previous employer in 2023 but need to submit a new application due to changing an employer in 2024 will be affected by the reduction in their new ruling.
This new reduction comes on top of the €233,000 cap on the salary to which the ruling can be applied. If you have any questions based on the above, please do not hesitate to contact us at amsterdam@eresrelocation.com
