The 30% ruling and your mortgage: what lenders count
· 6 min read
No single rule decides whether a lender counts your 30% ruling allowance. The Dutch mortgage regulation does not mention the ruling at all, so each lender writes its own policy, and the gap between those policies can easily be more than €100,000 of borrowing. The ruling's own rules are fixed, though: who qualifies, how long it lasts, and the drop to 27% from 2027. Those facts shape any sensible plan.
What the ruling is in 2026
The Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) now calls it the expatregeling (expat scheme). Your employer may pay up to 30% of your wage, allowance included, tax-free to cover the extra costs of living away from home (extraterritoriale kosten). Put another way, the allowance can be up to 30/70 of your wage without the allowance. Your employer does not have to pay the full 30%, so check what your contract actually says.
The main conditions for 2026:
- Salary norm. Your taxable salary, not counting the allowance, must be above €48,013. If you are under 30 and have a Dutch academic master's degree or an equivalent foreign one, the norm is €36,497. Researchers at designated institutions and doctors training as specialists have no salary norm.
- Duration. The Belastingdienst's decision (beschikking) runs for at most 5 years. Earlier periods of living or working in the Netherlands in the 25 years before you arrived are deducted, with some exceptions for short visits. The end date is printed on the decision.
- Cap. The allowance is only calculated over salary up to €262,000. In 2026 the maximum tax-free allowance is €78,600.
- Yearly check. Your employer checks the salary norm every year. If your salary falls below it, the ruling stops with effect from 1 January of that year and cannot be restarted later, even if your salary goes back up.
- Changing jobs. You can keep the ruling with a new employer if you start within 3 months of leaving the old job and apply within 4 months of starting.
From 2027: 27% for most people
The government has lowered the maximum allowance to 27% from 2027 and will also bring in a higher salary norm that year. Which rules apply to you depends on when you first used the ruling:
| First used the ruling | 2025 and 2026 | 2027 onwards |
|---|---|---|
| By 31 December 2023 | 30%, current salary norm | 30%, current salary norm |
| In 2024 | 30%, current salary norm | 27%, current salary norm |
| From 1 January 2025 | 30%, current salary norm | 27%, new higher salary norm |
What the mortgage rules say
The Tijdelijke regeling hypothecair krediet (Temporary Mortgage Credit Regulation) says a lender sets your test income from your "current fixed and stable income". It may also count an expected structural rise in income within a reasonable period. Nothing in the regulation refers to the 30% ruling or to tax-free allowances. The financing-burden percentage from the 2026 table is then applied to that gross test income.
For loans with NHG (the national mortgage guarantee), the rules add that stable income does not include travel allowances, pension compensation or "other expense allowances". The 30% allowance is legally a reimbursement of extraterritorial costs. If you want NHG, ask early how the lender classifies it.
In short, the allowance is real money in your pocket, but it is tax-free, temporary and can be lost if your salary drops. Each lender decides how much of it, if any, to treat as stable income.
Why the answer moves your number so much
Say your employment package is €80,000 a year and your employer applies the full 30%. On your payslip, €56,000 is taxable wage and €24,000 is the tax-free allowance. At a 5% test rate, the 2026 table gives:
| Income the lender counts | Share of income | Allowed payments per year | Rough maximum loan |
|---|---|---|---|
| €80,000 (whole package) | 27.2% | €21,760 | about €338,000 |
| €56,000 (taxable wage only) | 24.6% | €13,776 | about €214,000 |
That is a gap of roughly €124,000 on the same salary. The maximum loans are 30-year annuity estimates at 5%, before any extra room for your energy label. If this example package moved to 27% in 2027, the split would become €58,400 taxable and €21,600 tax-free.
Lenders do not all land in the same place in this range. That is why two honest quotes for the same buyer can be far apart.
What to ask a lender or adviser
- Do you work from my gross salary before the allowance is taken out, or only from the taxable part?
- If you count any of the ruling's benefit, for how long? Only until the end date on my decision?
- If I will move to 27% in 2027, how do you allow for that?
- Does your answer change if the loan has NHG?
- What happens to my assessment if I change employer during the application?
Have these ready: the Belastingdienst decision with its end date, an employer's statement (werkgeversverklaring), recent payslips and your employment contract.
Plan for the end date
Whatever a lender counts, your mortgage payment will not fall when the ruling ends, but your net pay will. Before you commit, work out your monthly budget on your net income without the allowance, and check that the payment still fits. If you earn close to the salary norm, remember that the ruling can end early if your salary dips below it in any year.
Where to go from here
The net salary calculator shows your take-home pay with and without the ruling, which is the number to budget on after the end date. For the borrowing side, the maximum mortgage calculator runs the 2026 income test, and how Dutch lenders set your maximum mortgage explains it. Because policy on the allowance differs from lender to lender, an adviser is useful here: you can request mortgage advice from up to three independent advisers who work in English.
Sources
- Belastingdienst: Can I apply for the Expat Scheme (30% facility)?
- Belastingdienst: Inhoud van de expatregeling (maximum allowance 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Deskundigheidsvereiste (salary norm 2026)
- Belastingdienst: Beschikking, geldigheid en toetsen voorwaarden
- Rijksoverheid: Expatregeling hoogopgeleide buitenlandse werknemers (27% from 2027)
- Wetten.overheid.nl: Tijdelijke regeling hypothecair krediet (version from 1 January 2026)
- Staatscourant 2025, 36471: Wijzigingsregeling hypothecair krediet 2026
- NHG: Voorwaarden en normen 2026
Figures checked against the sources above on 23 September 2026.
Questions
Is there a legal rule on counting the 30% allowance for a mortgage?
No. The Tijdelijke regeling hypothecair krediet only says the test income is your current fixed and stable income, and it does not mention the ruling. Each lender therefore sets its own policy on whether, and for how long, the tax-free allowance counts.
What happens to the ruling if my salary drops below the norm?
Your employer checks the salary norm every year. If your salary falls below it, the ruling ends with effect from 1 January of that year, and it cannot be applied again later even if your salary recovers. In 2026 the norm is a taxable salary above €48,013, or €36,497 for qualifying under-30s with a master's degree.
Will the drop to 27% in 2027 affect me?
It depends on when you first used the ruling. If that was by 31 December 2023 you keep 30%. If it was in 2024 or later, the maximum becomes 27% from 2027, and if it was from 1 January 2025, a higher salary norm applies too.