MPs on Thursday voted in favour of a new way of taxing private assets, which includes a shift to actual rather than fictitious returns on savings, shareholdings and property.

However, the reforms to the Box 3 asset tax system are seen as a stop-gap on the way to a different set up based on a capital gains tax, which the new government has already said it plans to bring in.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the system of taxing assets based on returns which had not been realised contravened EU legislation and ordered the government to rethink. A revised system was also thrown out by the courts in June 2024.

The new system, which has just been approved and is due to come into effect in 2028, is based on real returns and requires the tax office to make an accurate estimate of how much people have actually earned, for example in interest on their savings. Savers and investors will also have to keep detailed records.

It is a hybrid system. People will pay tax every year on their earnings from investments and savings. But they will only pay tax on any increase in the value of property or on investments in start-ups once they sell the building or shares – in line with practice in most other EU countries.

A temporary solution is crucial to ensure government finances are not hit and in total, 93 out of 150 MPs voted for the compromise proposal, but not the far right parties

They want to move towards a more universal capital gains tax system as JA21 MP Michiel Hoogeveen said during Thursday’s debate. “This system taxes paper profits, does not correct for inflation, is complex and increases the uncertainty facing taxpayers,” he said.

ChristenUnie has also warned that thousands of civil servants will be needed to put the hybrid system into practice.

Tax adviser Cor Overduin, who was involved in the legal fights to change the current system, said no one is happy with the new set-up but that it is progress. “At least it is more balanced, you can deduct costs and you can explain it to taxpayers,” he told the Financieele Dagblad.

The three coalition parties favour a further shift towards a capital gains tax from 2028 onwards.