Dutch workers will retain slightly less of their salaries from April as they did in the first three months of the year as changes to the tax and pension premium system are finally fully implemented.

The difference will be two or three euros in most cases, but civil servants will notice a €7 drop because of an increase in pension payments. Workers earning twice the average income of €2,800 gross per month will have some €10 less to spend.

Take home pay went up across the board this year as the government widened the tax bands, shaving €5bn off the national tax bill. The maximum tax rate of 52% now kicks in at €66,422 and a new lower rate of 40.4% covers income from €19,923 to €66,421.