30% tax ruling no longer limited to one employment relationship

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Under the 30% tax ruling, foreign employees working in the Netherlands may be eligible for tax relief. The Court of Appeal has now ruled that the relief can be granted for two or more employment relationships that exist at the same time.

On 21 March 2013, the Dutch Court of Appeal in Den Bosch ruled on the question of whether a Supervisory Board member (non-executive Director) could qualify for the 30% tax benefit with regard to a second Supervisory Board membership.

The full-time employment of a Belgian Supervisory Board member was terminated with effect from 1 April 2009. However, on the same date he was appointed member of the Supervisory Board of a Dutch company on a part-time basis. On 29 June 2010 he was appointed member of the Supervisory Board of yet another Dutch company.

The Dutch Revenue refused to allow the 30%-ruling to continue to apply on the grounds that the individual could not be considered as either having been transferred from or recruited from abroad, either of which conditions need to be met before the 30% ruling can apply.

The Court did not agree with the Revenue's standpoint. If, in addition to an existing part-time employment a new employment contract is signed, all that needs to be demonstrated is that the individual has expertise that is not readily available in the Netherlands. The requirement that the employment contract with the new employer must be entered into within three months after the previous employment only applies if that previous employment has been fully terminated.

Based on this judgment, it should be possible to apply the 30% tax ruling simultaneously for several employment relationships. It is expected that the State Secretary of Finance will lodge an appeal against the judgment before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

Resources

Ruling of the Dutch Appeal Court dated 21 March 2013

For further information or to discuss the consequences of the above, please contact Rina Driece on +31 10 224 6 424 at Loyens & Loeff, Rotterdam - www.loyensloeff.com.

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