Law changes that will hit Dutch wallets in 2025
At the start of every year, the Dutch government implements law changes. Here is a summary of all the changes that will affect your wallet. NL Times also wrote up a comprehensive summary of all law changes expected to begin in January.
Work and Income
The Netherlands is getting an extra income tax bracket next year. Currently, the Netherlands works on two income tax brackets. Anyone earning over 75,518 euros per year pays the high rate of 49.5 percent, while anyone earning less pays 36.97 percent. From next year, there will be an additional income tax bracket. The rate in the highest bracket will remain at 49.5 percent, while the one in the lowest bracket will drop to 35.82 percent. In between there will be a middle bracket for people earning between 38,089 and 75,518 euros per year, with an income tax rate of 37.48 percent.
The minimum hourly wage is increasing on 1 January 2025. From then, people over the age of 21 will earn 14.06 euros per hour. Young workers earning the youth minimum wage will get between 4.22 euros per hour for 15-year-olds and 11.25 euros for 20-year-olds.
Welfare benefits and the state pension are linked to the minimum wage and will increase with it. The state pension age will remain 67 years next year.
Over 6,000 households will end up below the poverty line due to a combination of regulations. They will receive a fixed allowance from their municipality in the coming years. In 2025, these households will receive an amount of 1,000 euros. According to the government, this amount should be sufficient for more than 95 percent of the affected households. Households with a larger deficit can contact the municipality for additional special assistance. More information here.
Parents
Parents will receive higher allowances as a contribution to the costs of raising their children. The childcare allowance compensates the costs of up to 230 hours of childcare per child per month. For parents earning up to 47,403 euros, the government will compensate 96 percent of childcare costs. Parents with higher incomes get less compensation. In the highest income group of 226,546 euros or higher, the childcare allowance covers 33.3 percent of the childcare costs for the first child and 67.1 percent for every child after that. The full table of income scales can be found here.
The child benefit is also increasing to 281.69 euros for kids up to the age of 5, 342.05 euros for children between the ages of 6 and 11, and 402.41 euros for teenagers aged 12 to 17. Parents who have high costs for their children may qualify for a double child benefit, for example, if the child lives somewhere else due to illness or for their education, or if the child needs intensive care at home. More information is available here.
The child-related budget is also increasing, by a maximum of 75 euros per child. Check here if you qualify.
Students
From January to July 2025, the basic study grant for students living at home is 103.78 euros. Students living away from home will get 338.68 euros. The supplementary grant will be 424.57 euros for students living at home and 451.97 euros for students living away from home.
Housing
The income limits for social housing are indexed annually. To qualify for social housing from 1 January 2025, single-person households must earn 49,669 euros or less, and multi-person households must earn 54,847 euros or less.
Private sector landlords may increase rents by a maximum of 4.1 percent in 2025. In the mid-range rental sector, the maximum increase is 7.7 percent from 1 January 2025, and in the social rental sector, it is 5 percent from 1 July 2025. Both social housing and mid-range rentals are subject to rent regulation. Their rents can’t increase above the maximum rent price attached to the home’s points on the national valuation system. The rent of rooms, trailers, and lots can also increase by up to 5 percent from 1 July 2025. More information here.
Other
There will be some changes to basic health insurance next year. For example, the basic package will now compensate for exercise therapy for the lung disease COPD. It will also cover more rehabilitation for the elderly. The deductible remains 385 euros, and the personal contribution for medicine remains a maximum of 250 euros. Some personal contributions for certain medical expenses, such as maternity care and hearing aids, may increase slightly next year. More information here.
Traffic and other monetary fines will increase on January 1. The fines for most violations will be 10 euros higher than this year. Speeding fines, which are progressive, will be up to 15 euros higher.
