The government is planning to charge top earners a tax surcharge of 30% on bonuses and golden handshakes. The matter will be discussed today, according to sources in The Hague, reports in Tuesday’s Volkskrant.

The surcharge will apply to bonuses over €500,000 where this is greater than the annual salary.
Ministers will also discuss moving bonuses out of the section for wealth tax on the tax form – where little tax is charged – and place it under capital gains tax which is subject to a 20% levy.
A third area for discussion concerns executive pensions that are topped up by the company. Ministers are considering scrapping the tax deductible status of pensions over €185,000.