How much do you need to earn to get the full 30%?

The 30% ruling sounds simple: 30% of your salary, paid tax-free. In practice, how much you actually get depends on what you earn, and on which group you fall into. Below a certain salary the tax-free part is trimmed, so you receive less than a full 30%. Here are the numbers that matter, for both standard applicants and under-30 master’s graduates.

Two salary numbers, not one

Most people look for a single salary threshold. There are really two:

• The salary you need to qualify at all.
• The higher salary at which you receive the full 30% tax-free.

Between those two, you still qualify, but the benefit is reduced. And both numbers are different depending on whether you are a standard applicant or an under-30 master’s graduate.

The numbers for 2026

Your situation (2026)	Qualifying minimum (taxable salary)	Full 30% applies from a gross salary of
Standard applicant	€48,013	€68,590
Under 30 with a Dutch master’s	€36,497	€52,139

The first column is a taxable salary, meaning what is left after the tax-free part is removed. The second column is gross salary, before anything is taken out. Both are indexed every year.

Why the full-benefit point exists

Here is the part most calculators get half right. The tax-free allowance is capped so that your remaining taxable salary never drops below the qualifying minimum. So you only get the full 30% once 70% of your gross still clears that floor.

For a standard applicant, 70% of €68,590 is exactly €48,013, the floor. That is why €68,590 is the point where the full 30% kicks in. For an under-30 master’s graduate the same arithmetic on the lower floor gives €52,139. Earn at or above your point and you get the full 30%. Earn between the qualifying minimum and your point, and the tax-free slice is trimmed to protect the floor, so your effective benefit is less than 30%.

How the benefit scales: a worked example

Take a standard applicant in 2026, figures rounded:

• Earning €80,000: the full 30% is €24,000 tax-free. Taxable salary is €56,000, comfortably above the floor. Full benefit.
• Earning €68,590: 30% is €20,577 tax-free. Taxable salary lands exactly on €48,013. Full benefit, right at the line.
• Earning €60,000: a full 30% would push taxable salary below the floor, so the tax-free part is capped at €11,987 (€60,000 minus €48,013). That is about 20% of salary, not 30%.
• Earning €50,000: the tax-free part is capped at just €1,987. The ruling still applies, but the benefit is small.

An under-30 master’s graduate sees the same pattern shifted down: the full 30% from €52,139, and between €36,497 and there the tax-free part is trimmed in the same way. The closer your salary is to your floor, the smaller the tax-free slice.

If you are under 30 with a master’s

The lower floor is tied to your age, not locked in for your whole term. It applies while you are under 30. From the point you turn 30, the standard floor (€48,013 in 2026) applies for the rest of your ruling.

That matters in practice. If your salary has not grown to clear the higher floor by your 30th birthday, your tax-free part shrinks, and in the worst case your salary no longer meets the test. If you took the ruling as a young graduate on a starting salary, plan for that step up before you turn 30.

Researchers, PhDs, and doctors in training

Two groups skip the salary test entirely. Scientific researchers at designated Dutch institutions (universities and recognised research institutes), and doctors in specialist training, have no minimum salary requirement. For them the floor and the full-benefit point do not apply, and the full 30% applies to their salary up to the income cap.

If you are a PhD candidate in a salaried research role, you usually fall in this group. The eligibility guide covers which route fits you.

What actually counts toward the threshold

The salary test looks at fixed, guaranteed taxable salary on an annual basis. A discretionary bonus, a one-off allowance, or most variable pay does not count toward clearing the floor. So do not assume a year-end bonus lifts you over it. If you start partway through the year, the floor and the cap are applied on a pro-rata basis.

There is a ceiling at the top, too

At the other end, the 30% applies only up to a salary cap, €262,000 in 2026 (the WNT norm). That makes the largest possible tax-free amount €78,600 a year. Earnings above the cap get no extra tax-free allowance.

From 2026 this cap applies to everyone on the ruling, including people who started before 2023, whose earlier exemption has now ended. If you are a high earner, the practical takeaway is that a raw salary increase above the cap is taxed at full rates, so negotiate accordingly.

What changes in 2027

From January 2027, the 30% ruling becomes the 27% ruling for anyone who started benefiting from 2024 onward. Existing higher rates are protected for the years before 2027.

Because the rate becomes 27%, the full-benefit point shifts: it is your floor divided by 0.73 rather than 0.70. The floors also rise, to about €50,436 for a standard applicant and about €38,338 for an under-30 master’s graduate. So both numbers in the table above move up from 2027. The income cap continues to apply at the top.