The caretaker government’s financial plans for 2026 include measures to make it easier to buy a home as an investment, cuts in benefits for entrepreneurs, and higher taxes on savings and investments. Here is a round up of what is in store, courtesy of tax advice group TaxSavers.

Box 3 and capital gains tax

Box 3, where savings and assets are taxed, will see major changes. The tax-free allowance will drop to €51,396 (from €57,684 in 2025). This means more people’s savings and investments will fall into Box 3, increasing their taxable capital.

The assumed return on investments rises from 5.88% to 7.78%. However, taxpayers can still use the counter-evidence scheme (tegenbewijsregeling) in 2026 to demonstrate their actual returns if they are lower than the tax office assumption. Ask your tax advisor how.

A tip for fiscal partners: you can still combine your assets and share the tax-free allowance together, softening the impact somewhat.

Housing market

Transfer tax
First-time buyers under 35 still benefit from the 0% transfer tax exemption if they buy a house costing no more than €525,000 (€555,000 in 2026), while others pay 2% (for their own residence).

What could change is the transfer tax for the purchase of the second home. If parliament votes in favour, it will drop from 10.4% to 8%, reducing the cost of buying a property and stimulating investment into rental housing again.

Mortgage interest deduction and home ownership measures
The mortgage interest deduction remains available but will be capped at the rate of 37.56% (compared to 37.48% in 2025). The notional rental value tax, (eigenwoningforfait), remains 0.35% for most homes.

Entrepreneurs and freelancers

Self-employed tax deduction and SME profit exemption
The self-employed deduction is a fixed amount you can subtract from your profit if you qualify as self-employed for tax purposes (usually if you work for 1,225 hours per year). It is currently being reduced and is set to fall to €1,200 next year and €900 in 2027.

The small business profit exemption, a percentage of your profit that is exempt from tax after all the deductions, will be reduced slightly to 12.7%.

Tax regulations for the self-employed
The stakingsaftrek is a special tax deduction you can use when you stop your business to reduce the final taxable profit. It currently stands at €3,630 but the plan is to cut this to €908 by 2027 and to remove it entirely by 2030.

The co-working reduction (meewerkaftrek), which is a way to compensate if your fiscal partner helps out in your business, will also end by 2030.

Social security benefits

Healthcare benefits
The maximum income for healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag) in 2025 is €39,719 if single and €50,206 for a couple and this is not expected to change significantly in 2026.

The maximum healthcare allowance amount per month is expected to go up: from €131 per month to €139 for a single person and from €250 to €265 for a couple.

Housing benefits
From January 2026, the government is planning to remove the rent cap to qualify for housing benefit. Currently, low-income households are only eligible for housing benefit if they live in social housing – which means a rent of no more than €900.07.

Service costs paid by tenants, (such as maintenance, shared utilities, etc.) will also no longer be included in the housing benefit calculations.

The age limit for claiming housing benefit may also go down from 23 to 21.

Childcare allowance and child-related budget
Child budget and childcare allowance amounts are expected to be indexed to inflation, giving families more support as prices rise.

Income tax

The first income tax bracket will drop from 35.82% to 35.7%, resulting in slightly lower taxes for most households. However, the second bracket rate is likely to rise slightly from 37.48% to 37.56%.

If the proposal goes through, the income tax brackets will not be fully indexed to inflation in 2026, meaning some taxpayers may move into a higher bracket faster. Overall, the effects are small, but inflation makes it more likely that your tax burden will creep up over time.

30% ruling
The 30% ruling is still available but it is set to be reduced in 2027, although details have not yet been published. Talk to a tax advisor such as TaxSavers to find out how you can benefit best.

Pensions and retirement

High earners will no longer be able to build additional tax-free pension savings above €137,800.

The 10% lump-sum withdrawal option at retirement has once again been postponed. It is now expected to take effect no earlier than 1 July 2026, giving pension funds and insurers more time to prepare.

Excise duties and environmental taxes

The cut in the tax on fuel will be extended until 2027. This keeps the excise rates at €0.79 for petrol, €0.52 for diesel, and €0.19 for LPG.

Currently, the Dutch aviation tax is a flat fee of €29.40 per passenger per departing flight, regardless of destination. From 2027 the government is planning to change this to €29.40 for short-haul flights, €47.24 for medium-haul, and €70.86 for long-haul (with a lower rate for Caribbean territories).

Electric vehicles will become cheaper to buy relative to petrol cars because of changes to the vehicle purchasing tax (BPM).

Important to note

All of these changes still need to be approved by both houses of parliament before they can be implemented, and that may be complicated by the general election on October 29.

Keep an eye on the changes and plan your finances accordingly together with your Dutch tax advisor, so you can make smart financial decisions in 2026.