Tax return
- Can Expatax assist me with my tax return?
- What are your fees?
- When can I expect my refund?
- I haven't received a tax return, do I still have to file one?
- Is Expatax qualified to offer tax advice?
- Why should I use Expatax?
- Are Dutch lessons tax deductible?
- Can you arrange a provisional refund?
- Can I deduct the costs of a residence (or work) permit?
- What is the 30% ruling?
- I am working as an employee, can I setup my own business besides that?
- We would like to open a branch in the Netherlands. What is the procedure?
- I am a contractor. Can I invoice my client or should I be on a payroll?
- I am going to leave NL and would like to rent out my property in NL. What are the consequences?
- I would like to know whether the tax office has received my (2003) tax return. What to do?
- I would like to know what a certain word or expression means. Do you have a translation available?
Mortgage
Answers
Tax return
1. Can Expatax assist me with my tax return?
Of course Expatax can assist you with the preparation of your Dutch income tax return. To provide us with the necessary information please complete our client questionnaire which you can download from our website.
After completing our client questionnaire you can send all the information to:
Expatax B.V.
P.O. Box 9310
3506 GH UTRECHT
After the preparation of your tax return we will send a paper copy together with a tax calculation to you for your approval. Once you have approved the tax return we will file it electronically for you. We will also send you the invoice for our services. More information about our fees can be found on our website.
Our fees can be found here.
3. When can I expect my refund?
After filing the tax return, it should take around two or three months for the tax office to send you a tax assessment. But because of problems with the computer system, the complexity of tax returns and with the amount of work it often takes a lot more time. Especially the foreign tax office in Heerlen needs a lot of time. If you have the 30% ruling you will fall under the foreign tax office.
Average timeframe for the foreign tax office to deal with tax returns is around a year. Especially M forms and C forms take a lot of time. More than a year, even two years is not unusual. An M form is filed when you were not in the Netherlands the whole year, a C form is filed when you were living outside the Netherlands but had income or assets in the Netherlands.
For the period between the end of the tax year and the day you will receive the tax assessment the tax office will pay you interest.
First you get a provisional tax assessment and after a while a final tax assessment. So receiving a provisional tax assessment (voorlopige aanslag) doesn't mean that the tax office agrees with your tax return. They just pay you the money.
Unfortunately the foreign tax office doesn't cooperate if they are requested to just issue a provisional assessment in advance so that a refund can be received earlier.
The only thing they can see in their system is whether a tax return has been received, but they have no idea when it will be processed.
If you would like to know the status you can always call the international helpline of the tax office on 0031 (0) 55-538 53 85.
4. I haven't received a tax return. Do I still need to file one?
We receive a lot of questions about the obligation to file a tax return. What are the rules?
The tax office will normally send you a tax return when you are in 'the system' and the wage tax you paid in the past year didn't cover the income tax which means you may have to pay extra income tax or claim a refund. If you have received a provisional refund then you will always receive a tax return.
There are several reasons why the wage tax may not cover the income tax:
- company car (22% of the catalogue value is treated as income);
- freelance or business income;
- provisional refund for interest on a mortgage;
- negative income like education costs, alimony, interest on a mortgage, other costs related to buying a property;
- child credits are not included in the salary;
- etc.
If you can claim a refund and you haven't received a tax return then you have to request one yourself or ask Expatax to create one for you. Normally you need a T-form whereby 'T' stands for 'Teruggaaf' or 'Tax refund'. If you came to the Netherlands during the year then an M form is needed whereby 'M' stands for 'Migration'. A T form can be backdated at least 3 years, sometimes 5 years.
The fact that you arrived in the Netherlands (or left of course) during the year will almost always lead to a refund. Three reasons can be given:
- the calculation of the wage tax is based on a (estimated) yearly salary. This is your monthly salary times 12 plus vacation allowance. The payroll administration will use the tax rate which is applicable for the yearly salary. This tax rate may be lower if you worked in the Netherlands less then 12 months.
- tax credits are also calculated monthly. Every month you will receive 1/12 of the personal tax credit and the tax credit you receive because you earn your own income.
- sometimes the 30% ruling has not yet been calculated in the salary since the statement was not received at the end of the year. When the 30% ruling is granted in the beginning of the next year then it can be backdated (if the application process was started within 4 months after you started working) to the first day of work. If the payrolladministration already has been closed for the previous year then the refund must be requested from the tax office in the taxreturn.
If you would like to know whether you can (still) claim a refund please contact us. If you know that you (officially) have to pay extra income tax then you have to request a tax return yourself if you haven't received one before July 1st of the year after the tax year.
The above means that not everybody in the Netherlands needs to file a tax return. Especially for individuals without children who are in the Netherlands for the whole year and have a normally paid job with no other (negative) income the wage tax is the only tax they pay. If you have any questions about this just let us know.
5. Is Expatax qualified to offer tax advice?
Expatax is indeed qualified to offer tax advice. All partners have their taxation diploma's and are certified members of the College of Tax advisors. Expatax is also a member of the Global Tax Network. Of course Expatax is registered with the Chamber of Commerce.
Expatax is specialized in advising expats and foreign companies. That's what we do the whole day. It is not just a part of our work, we only do this kind of work. Because of this we are familiar with all the relevant rules and know exactly which problems expats have to face. Every day.
You can trust that the advice we provide is right and in your benefit. Our advisors are kept up to date. All our communication will be in English including all our written correspondence.
You will always deal directly with one of our advisors. You don't have to call around to find the right person. Your advisor will stay your contact for a longer period.
Besides that our fees are very competitive since we try to keep our costs low.
7. Are Dutch lessons tax deductible?
You can consider that Dutch lessons are deductible as work related expenses. Unfortunately since 2001 work related expenses are no longer deductible. Instead you receive the labour deduction (arbeidskorting) if you work and have an income out of it. This means that Dutch lessons are not deductible as work related expenses.
Another possibility is to consider the Dutch lessons as education costs. Costs made to educate yourself to get a better future/career may be deductible. Many expatas tried to claim the Dutch language course under this subject. Unfortunately the court decided many times that a Dutch language course is too general to be treated as education costs. They decided that the ability to speak and understand Dutch is not needed specifically for a job but needed to function as a 'normal' resident in the Netherlands in general. Difficult to explain when the employer says he will only hire you if you speak Dutch. Only solution then is to request the employer to pay for the course. It's tax deductible for the employer (till 1 January 2004 with a bonus) but on the other hand taxable as salary for you.
The judge made an exemption however if the Dutch language course is required to follow education in the Netherlands like for example at the university. In that case the costs of the language course are deductible.
8. Can you arrange a provisional refund?
Yes we can arrange a provisional refund for you. Look here for more information.
9. Can I deduct the costs of a residence (or work) permit?
There is no possibility to deduct the costs of a residence permit. Work related costs are not deductible anymore since 2001. Work related costs are considered to be covered by the labour tax credit you receive. If you have the 30% ruling then the tax free allowance should cover the extra territorial costs. Costs of residence- and workpermits are considered to be extra territorial costs.
The 30% ruling is a tax free allowance of 30% of the gross salary which can be granted on request if the employee is recruited from abroad and has special skills and experience which are scarce on the Dutch labor market.
For more information about the 30% ruling see www.expatax.nl/30ruling.htm.
11. I am working as an employee, can I setup my own business besides that?
Yes, you can. Since you already spend a lot of time working for you employer it will however be difficult to prove that you also have worked 1,225 hours for your own business to get the special self employed credits.
If your residence permit is based on a work permit granted for a specific job then running a business may not be the solution if you get unemployed. So it is important to look at this closely.
12. We would like to open a branch in the Netherlands. What is the procedure?
There are two options:
a. If your company is based in the EU you can register the company as a foreign entity in the Trade Register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.
b. You can set up a Dutch limited company.
14. I am going to leave NL and would like to rent out my property in NL. What are the consequences?
For emigration see: www.expatax.nl/emigration.htm
If you no longer use the Dutch property as your main residence then you lose the possibility to deduct the mortgage interest. The property will then move from Box 1 to Box 3. The property stays taxable in the Netherlands based on international law and tax treaties since it is located in the Netherlands. The real rent you will receive is not relevant and neither are the other costs you have to make (tax, maintenance etc.)
Calculation: Real value of the property -/ outstanding mortgage * 4% fictitious profit * 30% tax = what you have to pay in the Netherlands. So 1.2% over the equity in the property. If there is no equity then you don't pay anything in NL.
Make sure you cover the mortgage interest with the rent you would like to receive. If you sell the property with a profit in the future then this profit is tax free.
15. I would like to know whether the tax office has received my tax return. What to do?
You can call the tax office to find out whether they have received it. Expats with 30% ruling can call the foreign tax office in Heerlen.
Contact details of the tax office
16. I would like to know what a certain word or expression means. Do you have a translation available?
We indeed have made a translation of several tax related words.
Go to our glossary.
Mortgage
1. Is it possible to transfer all my existing financial matters to your company ? I arranged a mortgage, loan and home insurance via a financial agency. I don't want to do business with them anymore and would like to transfer everything to you. Is this possible without incurring charges from the respective mortgage, loan and insurance companies ?
Of course we would like to be your new advisor and help you with everything. Whether you have to pay any penalties depends on the insurance company or bank you got the mortgage, insurance or loan from and on the conditions in the contract. If we don't do business with that company or bank and we have to end the contract than most of the times you indeed have to pay a penalty. But maybe we can offer you a cheaper mortgage, insurance or loan which will create a higher benefit to you and which will be higher than the penalty you have to pay. If we already do business with the insurance company or bank we can simply transfer the contract on our name without any costs for you. In a personal meeting we can discuss everything.