Why is there no capital gains tax in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands does not tax realised gains for most private investors. Instead, Box 3 levies an annual wealth tax on a deemed (forfaitair) return on your net assets, so you pay tax whether or not you actually sold anything or made a profit.

What is the heffingvrij vermogen?

It is the tax-free allowance: net Box 3 assets below this threshold are not taxed (and it doubles for fiscal partners). Only the value above the allowance is subject to the deemed return and the 36% rate.

What is the forfaitair return?

Box 3 assumes a fixed percentage return per asset class rather than your real gain. Savings get a low deemed rate while investments get a higher one (around 6% in recent years); the calculator applies the rate you enter to your net investment assets.

Does this cover business or substantial shareholdings?

No. A substantial interest (5% or more, aanmerkelijk belang) is taxed in Box 2 at a different rate on actual gains and dividends, and business assets fall in Box 1. This tool is for ordinary private savings and portfolio investments in Box 3.

Are these figures tax advice?

No. This is a simplified estimate of the Box 3 charge. The exact deemed rates, the partner allowance split and the transition rules following recent court rulings change yearly. Confirm current figures with the Belastingdienst or an adviser.

Netherlands Capital Gains Tax Calculator

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A Netherlands capital gains tax calculator that reflects how the Dutch system actually works: there is no tax on realised gains for most private investors. Instead, Box 3 levies an annual tax on a deemed (forfaitair) return applied to your net assets above the tax-free allowance, charged at a flat 36%.

How it works

The Box 3 charge is built in three steps:

netAssets   = investments - qualifying debts
taxableBase = max(0, netAssets - heffingvrij vermogen)
deemedReturn = taxableBase * (forfaitair rate / 100)
box3Tax      = deemedReturn * (36 / 100)

You pay tax on the assumed return, not your real profit. If markets fell you can still owe Box 3 tax; if they rose strongly your effective rate on the actual gain is lower than 36%.

Example and notes

Hold 200,000 EUR of investments with 10,000 EUR of qualifying debt and a 57,000 EUR allowance. The taxable base is 133,000 EUR. At a 6.04% deemed return that is 8,033 EUR, taxed at 36% for roughly 2,892 EUR of Box 3 tax for the year.

This ignores the savings-versus-investment split, the partner allowance and the post-ruling transition rules. All figures are computed locally in your browser and are not tax advice.