For the year of your move, file the M-aangifte
M-aangifte is for the year you entered or left the Netherlands. If you receive an aangiftebrief (tax return letter), you must file before the date it gives. If you do not receive one, you normally need to file by 14 July of the year after the tax year when the tax due is more than €57 for 2025 or €58 for 2026. With no letter, claiming a refund above €18 is optional. The expatregeling (Expat Scheme, often called the 30% ruling) needs a separate application with your employer.
This guide is for newcomers who file income tax after moving, and for later years when you are living in the Netherlands. Begin with the tax year and the place where you lived. Write down the deadline from your tax letter. The Belastingdienst (Tax Administration) uses different returns for a move during part of the year, a whole year in the Netherlands, and a whole year abroad. Income, assets and social-insurance periods from outside the Netherlands can affect the outcome.
Which tax return do you need to use?
Pick the return based on where you lived in the tax year. Then use your letter and the filing rules below to work out if you must submit and by when.
Wide tables can be scrolled sideways.
| Where you lived in the tax year | Return | Deadline or action |
|---|---|---|
| You moved into or out of the Netherlands during the year | Online M-aangifte or paper form M | File before the date in your aangiftebrief; M availability can differ from the normal return |
| You lived in the Netherlands all year | Resident income tax return in Mijn Belastingdienst | Use the deadline in your aangiftebrief. The resident return follows a different schedule from the M return. |
| You lived abroad all year and had Dutch income | Online non-resident return or paper form C (non-resident tax return) | Use the foreign-taxpayer instructions and your letter; see the civil-servant exception below |
If you spent the whole year abroad as a civil servant posted by the Netherlands, the official instructions say to use a resident return online or paper form P (resident tax return). If you moved during the year, use M. If your portal and your letter send you to different routes, ask the Belastingdienst which return to use before you submit.
What do you need to do in October 2026?
What if you moved in 2025 and still have not filed?
The online 2025 M return became available on 1 May 2026. The Belastingdienst announced 1 July 2026 as the filing date. That date is now past. Check your own letter and any confirmation of postponement. If your filing deadline has passed, submit as soon as you can.
If you had no letter, filing was required before 14 July 2026 when the completed 2025 return showed more than €57 due. If you have not filed, do it as soon as possible. If the return shows only a refund above €18, you can still claim that refund. The usual five-year limit for a 2025 refund claim ends on 31 December 2030.
What if your move happened in 2026?
Keep the records listed below, and arrange DigiD (digital identity) now if you plan to file online. The official M-return page lists forms up to 2025. In 2027, check your aangiftebrief and the current M-return instructions. Use the 2026 dates instead of copying the schedule from the year before.
Which records do you need to collect?
Before you open the return, gather every record that applies to your situation. The official records checklist lists the documents for 2025. Keep records from both countries for the dates the M return asks about:
- Your BSN (citizen service number), DigiD or another eligible European login, your bank account details, and the exact date you moved.
- Every jaaropgaaf (annual wage statement) from a Dutch employer or benefit agency. If a statement is missing, use payslips.
- Records of income from the Netherlands and from abroad: wages, benefits, pensions, freelance or business income, and other payments the form asks for.
- Statements for bank, savings, investment and crypto accounts in the Netherlands and abroad. For the dates requested, include property, mortgages and other debts.
- The BSN and records for your spouse, fiscale partner (tax partner) and children when the return asks for them.
- Proof for deductions, any voorlopige aanslag (provisional assessment), and any expatregeling beschikking (Expat Scheme decision).
The online return may already contain wage, bank and property data. Check Check the pre-filled information against your original statements. Fix incorrect entries and add anything missing, including income or assets abroad.
How do you submit the M return?
Follow these steps for the online M return. Online returns are usually available for the last five years. The income-tax app cannot process a year when you lived outside the Netherlands.
- Sign in to Mijn Belastingdienst using DigiD or another eligible European login.
- Select Inkomstenbelasting (income tax).
- Select Belastingaangifte (tax return).
- Choose the correct Belastingjaar (tax year).
- Pick “Aangifte inkomstenbelasting voor belastingplichtigen die een deel van het jaar buiten Nederland wonen doen” (income tax return for taxpayers living abroad for part of the year).
- Fill in the return with your records from both countries.
- Check the calculation.
- Send in the return if filing is required or if you decide to claim a refund.
- Save the receipt.
When the assessment arrives, keep it.
If you cannot file online or prefer not to, ask for paper form M for the correct tax year. The Belastingdienst says it sends the form within two weeks after receiving your request. The form comes only in Dutch. Sign the completed form and follow the instructions for returning it. The same personal deadline applies unless the Belastingdienst gives you postponement.
If you file as an entrepreneur with paper form M, you must also complete the M-jaarstukken (M annual business accounts). Ask the BelastingTelefoon Buitenland (Tax Information Line for non-resident tax issues) for the booklet.
How should you report income and assets from abroad?
The M return asks about the periods before and after your move. Report the income and assets it requests from both countries, even if another country may tax them. The foreign-income rules explain when a tax treaty or Dutch relief stops double taxation. Reporting income does not automatically mean you owe Dutch tax on it. Ask the tax authority in the country you left whether you must also file there.
Get help with cross-border questions
Before you enter any numbers you are not certain about, consult a tax adviser or the Belastingdienst. It is possible for two countries to consider you a tax resident. Other factors can also alter the outcome: foreign business income, a company interest, stock options, a home, or a partner who moved on a different date.
A 5% company interest may be covered by Box 2 (income from a substantial company interest), which is explained below. Seek personal advice if a tax treaty or any of these situations changes your return.
If you moved partway through the year, will you get tax back?
Your Dutch employer takes loonheffing (wage tax and national-insurance contributions) out of your salary and reports it on the jaaropgaaf. The return then compares the tax that was withheld with the tax calculated for the year. If too much was paid, the assessment shows a refund. If too little was paid, it shows an amount you owe. Use the Dutch payslip guide to verify the deductions on your salary record.
You may be due a refund if you lived in the Netherlands for part of the year and earned wages. The Belastingdienst describes this as an example of a possible refund. Whether you actually get one depends on your circumstances. The result can change because of foreign income, having more than one employer, side income, or periods of Dutch social insurance. Deductions, tax credits, a tax partner, and income in Box 2 or Box 3 (savings and investment income) can also make a difference. Finish the complete return before you decide whether to submit a voluntary refund claim.
Worked example for a 2025 return: your employer withheld €10,800, while the return calculates €10,200 in income tax and national-insurance contributions. The difference comes to €600. In the Belastingdienst’s example, the provisional assessment refunds that €600. This shows how the calculation works; it is not an estimate for your migration year.
What tax rates are used in 2026?
The Belastingdienst divides taxable income into three categories known as boxes. Tax credits and social-insurance status affect the final amount, so use the figures for the year you are filing. The figures below apply in 2026.
Wide tables can be scrolled sideways.
| Tax category | What it covers | 2026 figures |
|---|---|---|
| Box 1 (work and home income) | Salary, benefits, business or freelance income and own-home items | Below AOW (state pension) age: 35.75% up to €38,883; 37.56% on the next part up to €78,426; 49.50% above |
| Box 2 | Income from a direct or indirect company interest, normally at least 5% together with a tax partner | 24.5% up to €68,843 of Box 2 income; 31% above |
| Box 3 | Savings and investments under the rules and exemptions for that year | Tax-free capital €59,357, or €118,714 for qualifying tax partners; 36% on the calculated return |
The first Box 1 rate includes national-insurance contributions. The rate is different if you reach or have reached AOW age. The online return applies the rates and tax credits. The table by itself cannot estimate a migration-year bill.
For Box 3, the €118,714 allowance applies if you are tax partners for the whole year. It also applies if you are partners for only part of the year and choose whole-year tax-partner status. The 36% rate applies to the calculated investment return, not to the full asset balance.
In the 2025 return, you may optionally enter werkelijk rendement (actual return) if your assets are above the Box 3 tax-free allowance. If you provide it, the Belastingdienst compares the standard calculation with the actual-return calculation and uses the lower tax result. The actual-return calculation has no tax-free capital allowance. Follow the questions for the exact tax year.
When do you have to file, or ask for extra time?
If an aangiftebrief arrives, you must file before the date stated in it. If you do not receive a letter, complete the correct return first. You must submit if the tax due is above the assessment threshold. As a general rule, the return must arrive before 14 July after the tax year.
Without a letter, submitting a refund claim is optional. The Belastingdienst pays refunds above €18 for both 2025 and 2026.
For wide tables, you can scroll sideways.
| Tax year | Compulsory filing without a letter |
|---|---|
| 2025 | More than €57 due |
| 2026 | More than €58 due |
If you have already paid or received money through a voorlopige aanslag, look at the final-assessment threshold rules. Do not look only at what is left to pay and compare that amount with this table. For instance, suppose you have already paid €100 and the total tax you owe is €120; the Belastingdienst can still demand the remaining €20.
As a rule, you can claim a refund for five years after the tax year. Keep proof that you submitted and make sure the Belastingdienst has your correct bank account. For benefits alongside your tax return, see the toeslagen (allowances) guide.
Request uitstel (postponement) before the deadline in your letter. For a foreign or migration return, use the Dutch paper form or call the BelastingTelefoon Buitenland. Follow the foreign-return postponement instructions instead of the normal online route.
Getting a postponement moves the date by which you must file, but tax interest may still be charged. According to the official instructions, if a payable 2025 assessment is imposed after 1 July 2026, interest on it starts on 1 July 2026.
When can you expect to hear from the Belastingdienst?
For an M return, the Belastingdienst says you usually receive a message within three months. That message may confirm receipt or provide a provisional assessment. The final assessment can take longer.
The Belastingdienst allows a three-year period after the tax year for the final assessment. For 2025, that period ends on 31 December 2028. If filing postponement is granted, it extends this period by the same length. When an assessment grants a refund, the Belastingdienst normally transfers it within one week after the assessment date.
What happens if you miss a deadline you were required to meet?
A reminder gives you a new date by which to act. If you still have to file, do it as soon as you can. The Belastingdienst sends a herinnering (reminder) first, and then an aanmaning (formal demand) if you still have not filed. Once the formal demand has been sent, your return has to arrive within ten working days counted from the date shown on that letter.
The late-filing penalty published for October 2026 is €469 when the return comes in after that period. If you file late repeatedly, it can go up to €6,709. If you never file, the Belastingdienst will estimate your income. Tax interest may also apply. Read every new letter and follow the deadline it gives.
If you need more time after a reminder, the late-return instructions provide a separate written route. Write a letter that explains why and send it to Belastingdienst, Postbus 2523, 6401 DA Heerlen. Keep following the current filing deadline while you wait for a decision.
Is your employer allowed to apply the expatregeling?
The expatregeling conditions allow an employer to reimburse eligible extra costs of working abroad tax-free. Alternatively, the employer can pay up to 30% of wages, including the allowance, tax-free in 2026. Your employer may agree to a lower percentage. Ask about eligibility, the agreed allowance, and the application window as soon as you start work.
For 2026, the tax-free allowance for a full year is capped at €78,600. If all conditions are met, you hit that cap at €262,000 of salary. If you use the allowance for only part of the year, the maximum is lowered in proportion to how much of the year it covers.
Together with your employer, you submit the application. To qualify, you must be an employee who was recruited from outside the Netherlands, and you need to pass both the distance test and the salary test that apply. Under the standard distance test, the period considered is the 24 months leading up to your first working day in the Netherlands. For more than 16 of those months, you must have lived farther than 150 kilometres from the Dutch border. The distance is calculated as a straight line.
In 2026, one of the following salary tests must apply:
- Your taxable annual salary is more than €48,013, not counting the tax-free allowance.
- If you are under 30 and hold a qualifying Dutch academic master’s degree or a foreign equivalent, your salary is more than €36,497.
- No salary threshold applies if you perform scientific research at a designated research institution or train as a medical specialist.
Some returning workers and some people who have a doctorate are covered by different distance rules. If either situation applies to you, ask your employer to verify the official conditions. In the case of a doctorate, the 2026 form also asks whether you began working within one year after earning it.
To use the scheme starting on your first working day, the application has to reach the Belastingdienst no more than four months after that day. If it arrives later, you will not receive the percentage allowance from day one. While the decision is not yet in force, your employer may reimburse only qualifying actual extra costs without tax. According to the Belastingdienst, it replies within eight weeks once it has received a complete request.
A beschikking can last no longer than five years. If you previously worked or lived in the Netherlands, that term may be shortened; older periods and short visits are exceptions. The end date on your decision is the one to use, and if you have worked or lived here before, check the official conditions.
What happens if you switch employers?
When the two employers are part of the same recognised group of withholding agents, your decision may stay valid as long as the conditions continue to be met. A new request is not required. Check with your employer whether both organisations are in that group.
If the employers are not in that group, the 2026 request form verifies two things: that you agreed the new employment contract while your current decision was still valid, and that this happened within three months of your last working day. When your former employer placed you on non-actief (meaning it released you from your work duties), the period begins on the first day of that release. To use the scheme from the new start date, you and the new employer have to request continuation within four months of that date.
What changes from 2027?
During 2025–2026, all three starting groups can use up to 30% along with the existing salary standard. Starting in 2027, the allowed percentage and the salary standard will be based on the date you began using the scheme.
Wide tables can be scrolled sideways.
| When the expatregeling started | From 2027 under the published transition |
|---|---|
| No later than 31 December 2023 | Up to 30%; existing salary standard |
| During 2024 | Up to 27%; existing salary standard |
| On or after 1 January 2025 | Up to 27%; new higher salary standard |
Is partiële buitenlandse belastingplicht (partial foreign tax liability) still available to you in 2026?
For most people, partiële buitenlandse belastingplicht was discontinued from 2025. If you made use of the expatregeling before 2024, it is possible that you still qualify through the 2026 return. The requirements are that you live in the Netherlands and continue to use the scheme. Under this option you are treated as a non-resident for Box 2 and Box 3, and it stops when your scheme stops. If you hold foreign assets or a company interest, review the transition rules before you file.
How does a voorlopige aanslag spread out payments?
A voorlopige aanslag is based on an estimate for the current year. It can either collect anticipated tax in monthly instalments or pay out an expected refund during the year. Any difference is settled in the final calculation.
You can apply for or adjust the estimate in Mijn Belastingdienst. If you are a resident, select the option for living in the Netherlands; if you live abroad, select the non-resident option. According to the Belastingdienst, you normally get a response within four weeks and a notification within eight weeks.
Usually, an existing provisional assessment is renewed for the following year starting in mid-December. Review the renewed estimate and change it if you move, your salary changes, you buy a home, you get new income, or another circumstance changes. Amounts paid or received via the provisional assessment are part of the annual tax calculation.
How can you find help or have someone else file for you?
To get assistance with your M return, book a Belastingdienst appointment. The booking tool is available in Dutch; the Tax Information Line can assist you with making a booking. If you speak neither Dutch nor English, bring an interpreter. Entrepreneurs may ask specific tax questions, but the Belastingdienst does not provide appointments for completing their income tax return.
When a family member or adviser is going to file online, use DigiD Machtigen (DigiD authorisation) for the particular task and period. Do not share your DigiD username, password or app code.
If you plan to file on your own but do not have DigiD or an eligible European login, ask for paper form M. If you live in the Netherlands, you may also telephone to request an authorisation code. An authorised helper can then file online using their own DigiD. If you live abroad or in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba, you cannot get this code by post. When you need more time, apply for postponement before your deadline.
Where can you find help for your next task?
Pick the page that fits whatever you need to do next:
- To get online access, use the DigiD setup and recovery guide.
- To get help completing your M return, use Belastingdienst help appointments.
Official Sources
- Belastingdienst: Filing for the year of emigration or immigration - The online and paper M-return routes, login options, normal response target, three-year final-assessment period, postponement extension and official help route.
- Belastingdienst: 2025 migration return availability notice - The specific 1 May 2026 opening and 1 July 2026 filing date published for the 2025 immigration or emigration return.
- NederlandWereldwijd (NetherlandsWorldwide): Filing for the year you moved to the Netherlands - When the M form applies, online access for the previous five years, Dutch-only paper forms, posting timing, BRP (Personal Records Database) letters and the need to settle tax matters in the country left.
- NederlandWereldwijd: Filing an income tax return from abroad - The distinction between an M return for a move, a C return for a full-year non-resident and a P return in the special resident-taxpayer situation described there.
- Belastingdienst: Immigration checklist - How tax status changes on immigration, the role of foreign income, social insurance, DigiD, the migration return and checking whether a return is required without a letter.
- Belastingdienst: Living in the Netherlands with foreign income - Reporting worldwide income, treaty allocation and relief that prevents the same income being taxed twice.
- Belastingdienst: Income tax return obligations and deadlines - The letter deadline, the duty to file without a letter when tax due exceeds the assessment threshold, the 14 July spontaneous-filing date and the five-year refund period.
- Belastingdienst: Final income tax assessment - The assessment and refund thresholds: €57 and €18 for 2025, and €58 and €18 for 2026.
- Belastingdienst: Check whether you can get income tax back - That a part-year resident with wages may receive a refund, depending on personal circumstances, and that completing the return shows the result before submission.
- Belastingdienst: Postponement for a foreign or migration return - The personal deadline, paper or telephone postponement route, deadline for requesting it and the 2025 interest warning for a payable assessment after 1 July 2026.
- Belastingdienst: What happens if an income tax return is late or missing? - The reminder and formal-demand sequence, ten-working-day final period, €469 late-filing penalty and higher repeated-failure maximum.
- Belastingdienst: What happens after filing? - The three-month response aim, three-year final-assessment limit, postponement extension and payment of a refund after the assessment date.
- Belastingdienst: Box 1 explanation and rates - What falls in Box 1 and the 2026 rates for people below AOW age, including the national-insurance component of the first bracket.
- Belastingdienst: Box 2 explanation and rates - The 5% substantial-interest test and the 2026 Box 2 rates.
- Belastingdienst: Box 3 tax-free capital - The 2026 tax-free capital of €59,357, the conditional doubled amount for fiscal partners, and the separate treatment of an actual-return calculation.
- Belastingdienst: Rates used for the 2026 provisional assessment - The 2026 Box 3 rate of 36%, tax-free capital and the other rates used in a 2026 provisional assessment.
- Belastingdienst: Actual return in the 2025 Box 3 return - The optional actual-return entry in the 2025 return and the rule that the Tax Administration uses the more favourable of the deemed and actual calculations.
- Belastingdienst: Applying for the Expat Scheme - The 2026 salary and distance tests, exceptions, joint application, five-year maximum, employer-change rules and prorated maximum allowance.
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch central government): Expat Scheme for highly skilled foreign employees - The 2026 €262,000 remuneration cap and the 2027 percentage and salary-standard transition by starting cohort.
- Belastingdienst: Partial foreign tax liability - Its general abolition from 2025 and transitional availability through 2026 for qualifying people who used the Expat Scheme before 2024.
- Belastingdienst: Applying for a provisional assessment as a non-resident - The non-resident online application, estimated information, response within eight weeks and yearly renewal from mid-December.
- Belastingdienst: What is shown on a jaaropgaaf? - The annual wage, withheld wage tax and national-insurance contributions, employment tax credit and the need for a statement from each employer.
- DigiD: Authorisation - Authorising a helper for a specific task and period without sharing login details, telephone requests without DigiD, and restrictions on receiving the code by post for people living abroad or in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba.
- Belastingdienst: Records for the 2025 income tax return - Personal, wage, bank, investment, crypto, property, debt and deduction records, including payslips when a wage statement is missing.
- Belastingdienst: Checking pre-filled 2025 information - Pre-filled wage and bank information must be checked, corrected and completed before submission.
- Belastingdienst: 2026 Expat Scheme request (PDF, 294 KB) - The first-day four-month receipt rule, joint signatures, doctorate exception and three-month employer-change contract test, including employer-imposed release from work duties.
- Belastingdienst: Applying for a provisional assessment as a resident - The resident online route and usual four-week response, with notification within eight weeks.
- Belastingdienst: Paying a provisional assessment in instalments - Current-year monthly payments and reconciliation with the final assessment.
- Belastingdienst: Receiving a provisional refund - Monthly payments of a current-year provisional refund.
- Belastingdienst: Checking and changing a provisional assessment - The estimate, changes in income or personal circumstances, and reconciliation in the annual return.
- Belastingdienst: Provisional assessment after filing - Worked example: €10,800 withheld minus €10,200 calculated tax produces a €600 provisional refund.
- Belastingdienst: Help appointments - Dutch booking, telephone assistance, language support and the limit on help with an entrepreneur’s income tax return.
- Belastingdienst: Dutch M-return instructions - The original Dutch portal labels, paper M-jaarstukken requirement, current available forms and assessment timing.
- Belastingdienst: Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst - The official tax-account entry point used for online filing.
- Belastingdienst: Expat Scheme application instructions - Joint signatures and required attachments, response after receiving a complete request, and the published PDF size.
- Belastingdienst: BelastingTelefoon Buitenland - The official non-resident tax contact service, with details for calling from the Netherlands or abroad.
- Belastingdienst: Request paper form M for 2025 - The two-week dispatch period and M-jaarstukken requirement for entrepreneurs using paper form M.