Things to consider

• →The customary salary rule is a hard requirement, not an alternative. Your total salary, including any extra amount taken as salary, must meet the customary salary rule (art. 12a Dutch Wages Tax Act): at least the highest of €58,000, the salary for the most comparable role, or the salary of your highest-paid employee. If your current salary doesn't meet this, dividend isn't an option for that shortfall. Salary comes first.
• →Distribution test (art. 2:216 Dutch Civil Code). A dividend is only allowed if the company can still meet its due obligations afterwards. Not checked by this tool.
• →Excessive borrowing rule. Borrowing from your own company above roughly €500,000 is treated as a deemed dividend for tax purposes.
• →Financing and mortgages. Banks typically assess salary, not dividends, when determining borrowing capacity.
• →Pension accrual. Only salary, combined with a pension scheme, builds up pension.
• →Spreading across years. Often the real question isn't salary versus dividend, but dividend now versus spread over several years, to make repeated use of the low box 2 bracket.
• →Why the effective salary rate can exceed the bracket rate. Above €29,736 the general tax credit phases out, above €45,592 the labour tax credit does too. Both stack on top of the nominal bracket rate, which can push the marginal rate between €78,426 and €132,921 up to roughly 56%.
• →How the dividend tax burden is built up. Corporate tax: 19% up to €200,000 profit, 25.8% above. Box 2: 24.5% up to €68,843 per person, 31% above. Both low brackets combined: roughly 38.8% effective. Both high brackets: roughly 48.8%.
• →30% ruling: customary salary. The €58,000 threshold applies to the taxed portion of salary, not the gross total including the tax-free allowance. With a 30% ruling, a higher gross salary is needed to still meet the threshold.
• →30% ruling: scope. Only applies if the ruling has actually been granted by the Dutch Tax Authority (2026 salary requirement: €48,013, or €36,497 for under-30s with a master's degree). From 2027 the rate drops to 27% with higher salary requirements for new cases. The former partial non-resident tax status for box 2/3 was abolished from 2025 and is not reflected in this tool.
• →Applicable legislation. Based on the Dutch Income Tax Act 2001, the Dutch Corporate Income Tax Act 1969, the Dutch Wages Tax Act 1964, and the 2026 Tax Plan. Rates and tax credits may still change after publication in the Staatsblad.
• →State pension age scope. This tool assumes a director-shareholder who has not yet reached state pension age. Different rates and tax credits apply for those who have, which are not reflected here.