AETHERION Worldwide is the fundraising and landing practice of AETHERION Capital.
What changes for foreign staff in the Netherlands in 2027?
From 1 January 2027 the expat scheme pays a maximum of 27% of salary instead of 30%, and its salary norms rise. That is the change Rijksoverheid publishes. A second law, already passed, adds an admission requirement for any company that lends out staff, and fines for hirers who use one without it.
This page lists only changes a Dutch government source has published, with the date they take effect. Anything announced but not yet law sits in its own section, labelled as such.
Sources:
Rijksoverheid, Expatregeling hoogopgeleide buitenlandse werknemers
Business.gov.nl, 30% ruling: compensation for expats down to 27%
Rijksoverheid, Eerste Kamer stemt in met strengere regels voor de uitleenmarkt, 11 November 2025
What changes in the expat scheme?
The percentage and the salary norms. According to Rijksoverheid, the expat scheme pays a maximum of 27% of salary from 1 January 2027, against 30% until then. Business.gov.nl puts the new norm at EUR 50,436, and at EUR 38,388 for an employee under 30 with a master's degree.
Two things stay. The scheme still runs for at most 5 years, and it still applies only up to a capped salary: Rijksoverheid names a maximum of EUR 262,000 a year, which is why the Belastingdienst puts the 2026 allowance at a maximum of EUR 78,600. Where the ruling started before 1 January 2024, Business.gov.nl says a transitional rule keeps the maximum at 30% for the full 5 years, with the norm at EUR 46,107. See the 30% ruling.
Sources:
Rijksoverheid, Expatregeling hoogopgeleide buitenlandse werknemers
Business.gov.nl, 30% ruling: compensation for expats down to 27%
Belastingdienst, Inhoud van de expatregeling
What ends for staff who arrived before 2024?
Partial non-resident taxpayer status. The Belastingdienst says that choice disappeared from the tax return on 1 January 2025, and that a transitional rule let people who used the expat scheme before 2024 keep it up to and including 2026. That makes 2026 the last year anyone can use it.
For the people it covers, this is a change in taxable income, not in paperwork. It is worth flagging to any employee who moved here before 2024 and files a Dutch return. The year before is covered in what changed in Dutch business tax in 2026.
Source: Belastingdienst, Partiële buitenlandse belastingplicht
What changes if you hire staff through another company?
A new admission requirement. The Eerste Kamer, the Dutch senate, passed the law on 11 November 2025, and Rijksoverheid says it starts on 1 January 2027. From that date a company that lends out staff needs admission, and a hirer risks a fine for using one that does not have it.
Lenders register with the Dutch lending market authority, the NAU, before 1 January 2027 to use the transitional arrangement, hand in a certificate of conduct, transfer a deposit of EUR 100,000 and show that they follow rules such as the minimum wage. The Netherlands Labour Authority starts enforcing on 1 January 2028. This matters to a landing company that puts its first Dutch people on someone else's payroll.
Sources:
Rijksoverheid, Eerste Kamer stemt in met strengere regels voor de uitleenmarkt, 11 November 2025
Rijksoverheid, Nieuwe wet voor aanpak misstanden bij uitzendbureaus en andere uitleners
What is announced but not yet law?
A tightening of the highly skilled migrant scheme. On 4 July 2025 the Dutch government said it wants to raise the salary criterion and to look more critically at the recognition of companies. No date has been set and no bill has been published, and the measures are described as still being worked out.
It names three directions: a higher criterion for migrants under thirty, stricter tests of the financial health and reliability of a company applying for recognition, and losing recognition after two years without a highly skilled migrant on the payroll. None of it is in force, so the published amounts stand: see the minimum salary for a highly skilled migrant.
Source: Rijksoverheid, Kabinet scherpt kennismigrantenregeling aan, 4 July 2025
What has the IND not published yet?
Its 2027 amounts. The IND changes its fees on 1 January each year and sets the required amounts for the same year. It announced the 2026 figures in a news item in December 2025. On 22 September 2026 the 2027 figures are not published.
Sources:
IND, Fees and required amounts for 2026 known
IND, Fees: costs of an application
Sources
- Rijksoverheid, Expatregeling hoogopgeleide buitenlandse werknemers, checked 22 September 2026
- Business.gov.nl, 30% ruling: compensation for expats down to 27%, checked 22 September 2026
- Belastingdienst, Partiële buitenlandse belastingplicht, checked 22 September 2026
- Rijksoverheid, Eerste Kamer stemt in met strengere regels voor de uitleenmarkt, checked 22 September 2026
- Rijksoverheid, Kabinet scherpt kennismigrantenregeling aan, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Fees and required amounts for 2026 known, checked 22 September 2026
Checked on 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules change: check the official source, or ask an adviser, before you act on it.
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