The 27% rate from 2027: is the 30% ruling being cut?

By Skyler Bissell · July 17, 2026 · 6 min read

The headlines make it sound like the Dutch 30% ruling is getting gutted. It isn't. From 1 January 2027 the rate drops from 30% to a flat 27%, and that is the whole change to the number. On a €100,000 salary it costs about €126 a month. Real, worth knowing, not a reason to cancel the move.

What follows is what actually changes in 2027, who is protected from it, and what the 27% rate does to the same €100k Amsterdam case we work everywhere else, straight from cityparity's Dutch tax engine.

What actually changes on 1 January 2027

One thing: the exemption rate. Today a qualifying inbound worker can take up to 30% of gross as a tax-free allowance, which lowers the income their Dutch Box 1 tax runs on. From 2027 that 30% becomes a flat 27% for the rest of the term. Everything else about the mechanism stays the same: still a tax-free slice off the top, still up to five years, still capped at the top end.

So a smaller slice comes off before tax. Three points instead of thirty makes it sound dramatic; in take-home it is a few percent of the allowance, which is a few percent of a number that was already worth about 16% of gross. Small change to a modest number.

The phase-down that got reversed

This is where the confusion comes from. Back in 2024, lawmakers passed a plan to taper the ruling over its five years: 30% for the first stretch, then 20%, then 10%. That would have been a genuine erosion, with your rate falling the longer you stayed.

It never took effect. The taper was scrapped before it bit, the flat 30% held through 2025 and 2026, and the 2025 Tax Plan replaced the whole idea with a single, constant 27% from 2027. As Baker Tilly put it, the outcome is "not 30, not 30-20-10, but a 27%-ruling." One flat rate for everyone still in the scheme is simpler to plan around, and kinder, than a rate that shrank every couple of years.

What 27% does to the worked numbers

Here is the €100,000 Amsterdam case from the worked example, single filer, income tax only, before living costs, with the 27% column added next to the 30% one.

The move from 30% to 27% costs about €1,514 a year on €100,000, roughly €126 a month. The ruling still turns a €62,711 take-home into €77,533.

Push the salary to €150,000 and the shape holds. The 30% version nets about €109,910; the 27% version nets about €107,390, a give-back of roughly €2,520 a year, or €210 a month. Against a no-ruling take-home of €85,818, the 27% ruling is still worth about €21,572 a year. The trim is real. It does not change which offer you take.

Who moves to 27%, and who is grandfathered

The rate you pay in 2027 depends on when your ruling started, not on the calendar alone.

The pre-2024 group is fully shielded: they keep the 30% rate and the older, indexed salary thresholds for the whole remaining duration, untouched by both the rate cut and the 2027 threshold jump. If your colleague started in 2021 and yours starts next year, you are on different deals for the same job.

The salary bar rises, and the cap stays

The 27% headline travels with a quieter change: the qualifying salary norms step up in 2027, by more than routine indexation, for anyone who started on or after 1 January 2024 and for new arrivals. That tightens who counts as scarce enough to qualify, especially at the lower end. The current 2026 floor is a taxable €48,013 (or €36,497 for under-30s with a Dutch-recognised master's); expect it higher from 2027. The full eligibility picture is on the requirements page.

The cap at the top is unchanged in structure. The tax-free part is still limited to the WNT norm (€262,000 for 2026, indexed each year), so earnings above that are taxed normally whatever the rate below it.

So, is the ruling being cut?

Trimmed, yes. Cut to the bone, no. The rate loses three points, the salary bar goes up, and pre-2024 holders skip both. For a new high earner the practical hit is a few percent of an allowance, on the order of €126 a month at €100k. The far bigger event in the life of this ruling is not the 27% rate; it is the day it stops entirely, which is a five-figure step down covered in when the 30% ruling ends.

And the rate was never the thing to decide a move on. Budget on the post-ruling number, count the childcare and healthcare lines the offer letter leaves out, and the 27% change lands where it belongs: a footnote, not a headline. Run your real salary and family both ways:

• Run your own numbers in the calculator →
• The Netherlands 30% ruling, explained: how the allowance works, the 2026 numbers, and the WNT cap
• €100k in Amsterdam, with and without the ruling: the base case this page's 27% column extends
• When the 30% ruling ends: the year-six cliff, the change that actually hurts
• Do you qualify for the 30% ruling? The 150km rule and the salary norms that rise in 2027
• Is the 30% ruling actually worth it? Expat tax breaks, decoded: the ruling set against Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Italy
• NYC vs Amsterdam: the whole package, ruling included, from New York

FAQ

Is the 30% ruling changing in 2027?

Yes. From 1 January 2027 the exemption becomes a flat 27% instead of 30% for the remaining term. It is one single rate, not the tapering 30-20-10 schedule that was floated in 2024 and then scrapped. The salary thresholds also rise, tightening who qualifies.

Is the 30% ruling being abolished?

No. It is being trimmed, not removed. The rate goes from 30% to 27% and the qualifying salary bar goes up, but the ruling stays a real, multi-year tax break. Even at 27% it remains one of the more generous inbound regimes in Europe.

How much does the 27% rate cost me compared with 30%?

By cityparity's Amsterdam engine, moving from 30% to 27% costs a single filer about €1,514 a year on a €100,000 salary, roughly €126 a month, and about €2,520 a year on €150,000. The ruling still adds around €14,822 a year at €100k versus having no ruling at all.

Who keeps the 30% rate after 2027?

Anyone who was already using the ruling before 1 January 2024 is grandfathered: they keep the full 30% rate and the old, indexed salary norms for the rest of their term. People who started in 2024, 2025, or 2026 keep 30% through 2026, then move to 27% from 2027. New arrivals from 2027 get 27% from day one.

What happened to the 30-20-10 phase-down?

A 2024 plan would have tapered the exemption from 30% to 20% and then 10% across the five years. Lawmakers reversed it before it took effect. In its place, the 2025 Tax Plan set a single flat 27% from 2027, which is simpler and more generous than the taper would have been.

Do the 30% ruling salary thresholds change in 2027?

Yes. On top of normal yearly indexation, the qualifying salary norms step up in 2027 for people who started on or after 1 January 2024, and for new arrivals. Pre-2024 holders keep the old thresholds. The tax-free part also stays capped at the WNT norm, which is €262,000 for 2026 and indexed each year.

Take-home figures come from cityparity's per-city engine (income tax, single filer, Amsterdam, before living costs) and are rounded; the 27% variant applies a 27% allowance in the same engine. The 2027 change, thresholds, and grandfathering are current at publication, drawn from Business.gov.nl and firm summaries (Baker Tilly, Loyens & Loeff), and depend on personal circumstances, so confirm with an advisor. See the methodology.