New rules and laws for entrepreneurs as of 1 January 2025

Legislative changes as of 1 January 2025

Municipalities introduce zero-emission zones

From 2025, municipalities may introduce zero-emission zones. Only vans and trucks that do not cause excessive pollution will be allowed in these areas. Diesel or petrol vans and trucks with a Euro 4 emission class or lower are not allowed in zero-emission zones.

From 1 January 2027, Euro 5 vans and trucks cannot use zero-emission zones. For Euro 6 vehicles, the rule applies from 1 January 2028. There is a transitional arrangement until 2030 for some vans.

The emission class defines how clean your vehicle is. The higher the emission class, the lower the emissions of harmful substances. You can find out the emission class of your vehicle via the zero-emission licence plate check (in Dutch).

Small businesses scheme in the EU

From 1 January 2025, it will be possible for entrepreneurs doing business in other EU countries to take part in the EU Small Business Scheme(EU-KOR). Participants can then get a VAT exemption for one or more EU countries where they do business.

BPM for vans with CO2 emissions

From 1 January 2025, you will have to pay private vehicle and motorcycle tax (BPM) when you buy a new company van. You can no longer make use of the exemption from BPM for company vans. 

How much BPM you pay depends on the van's CO2 emissions. The more emissions, the more tax. For electric vans and other cars without harmful exhaust emissions, you will not pay any BPM even after 2025.

Lower costs when employees with a permanent contract work overtime

More employees on permanent contracts will be allowed to work up to 30% more hours without the employer having to pay a higher rate of unemployment benefit contributions (WW-premie). This is intended to give employers more flexibility. But if an employee does work more than 30% overtime on average over the year, the higher contribution rate will apply retroactively.

Under the current rules, you do not pay the higher premium for staff with contracts for an average of 35 hours a week or more who work more than 30% overtime. In 2025, that threshold will be lowered to include contracts averaging more than 30 hours per week.

Low-income benefit disappears

From 1 January 2025, the low-income benefit (LIV) will stop. This means that employers with staff who qualified for it will no longer receive a contribution towards wage costs.

An employee covered by the LIV works at least 1,248 hours per year and earns on average between 100% and 125% of the minimum wage. 

Note: On 1 January 2024, the upper limit of the average hourly wage was lowered from 125% to 104%.

Changes to requirements for childminders 

From 1 January 2025, childminders must meet different requirements for play equipment and cots. Childminders will not have to comply with the Attractions and Playground Apparatus (Commodities Act) Decree 2023. This decree sets safety requirements for playground equipment in public areas.

Childminders do not have to follow those requirements because the play equipment is in their garden. This makes it difficult to determine whether it is for public or private use. However, childminders must still take measures to reduce health and safety risks.

The rules for cots and playpens also change. Childminders will not have to follow the Cots and Playpens in Child Care (Commodities Act) Additional Regulations. However, they must comply with the general safety requirements for cots and playpens (in Dutch), as set out in the law.

Mandatory training for working with babies

From 1 January 2025, childcare staff may only work with babies (0-year-olds) if they have completed special in-service training (in Dutch).This also applies to substitute and temporary childcare staff. 

Without this refresher training, staff members are not allowed to work in a group with 0-year-olds. Even if they do not take care of the babies.

Minimum language requirement for childcare workers

From 1 January 2025, educational staff in childcare must have mastered the Dutch language at a level 3F or B2 according to the European Framework for Languages (CEFR). That level concerns the way you hold conversations, listen and speak.

Employees born before 1 January 1965 have until 1 January 2028 to must meet the language requirement.  A lower level of 2F or B1 is enough for staff working in out-of-school care (bso). 

Minimum wage increases

Do you employ staff and pay the minimum wage or close to it? The minimum wage is adjusted every 6 months. On 1 January 2025, the legal minimum wage will go up to €14.09 per hour for full-time workers aged 21 and over.

See gross minimum wage rates in 2025.

Legislative changes expected to take effect in 2025

The legislative changes below are set out in the Tax Plan 2025. The lower house of parliament (Tweede Kamer) has agreed to them. The upper house (Eerste Kamer) will vote on this plan on 17 December. It will then be known if the changes will go ahead and when they will happen.

SME profit exemption down

The SME profit exemption is expected to drop from 13.31% to 12.71% in 2025. This reduction means your taxable profits will be higher and you will pay more tax than in 2024.

Another year of excise duty rebate on car fuels

The reduced excise rate on vehicle fuels is expected to be extended for another year. In 2022, excise duty on petrol, diesel, and LPG was temporarily reduced. This was supposed to end on 1 January 2025.

Less tax in box 2 for shareholders

If you own 5% or more of the shares in a company, you have a ‘substantial interest’. You may then receive profit distribution, or dividend. In 2024 you pay 24.5% tax on profit distributions up to €67,804 and 33% on everything above that. In 2025, thehigher tax rate will be reduced to 31%.

This change should bring more balance between tax rates for employees and for substantial interest holders such as entrepreneurs with a sole proprietorship. It is intended to prevent entrepreneurs from choosing a legal structure solely because of tax advantages.

Deduction of donations for BVs disappears

The business donation deduction for private limited companies (BVs) is expected to stop in 2025. This means you can no longer deduct your donations to associations with an ANBI status (Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen) and supporting foundations SBBI (steunstichtingen Sociaal Belang Behartigende Instellingen) from your profits.

For 2024, you will still be able to deduct a donation to an ANBI or SBBI from profits. The maximum gift deduction per year is 50% of the profit, with a maximum of €100,000. Because of this change in the law, it may be a good idea to consider donating to an ANBI or SBBI in 2024.

If a BV donates at the request of a shareholder with a substantial interest, this is not considered a deductible gift for tax purposes. This is a dividend distribution to that shareholder. The BV must then withhold dividend tax. And the shareholder must also pay income tax in Box 2 on this distribution.

Income tax: brackets and rates to change

The first bracket of box 1 is expected to be split into 2 parts in 2025. Box 1 will then have 3 tax brackets instead of 2. In 2025, you will pay 35.82% tax on your income up to €38,441 in the new first bracket. That is about 1% lower than in 2024.

In the new second bracket, you will pay 37.48% tax on your income between €38,441 and €76,817. That is about 0.5% more than in 2024. 

On income above €76,817, you will pay 49.5%, the same as in 2024.

Lower incomes benefit from the lower first bracket. Higher incomes notice this less due to the higher rate in the new second bracket.

Box 1 has deductions such as the self-employment deduction, co-employment deduction, and the SME profit exemption. Is your income higher than €76,817 in 2025? Then in 2025 you will get back a maximum of 37.48% on the deductions, which is the rate of the second tax bracket. This is slightly higher than in 2024.
 

Energy tax on natural gas cut

The government is expected to reduce the energy tax on natural gas in 2025. The rate will fall by 0.5% for consumption up to 170,000 m3 per year. The planned 2.3% increase in rates will not go ahead.

In this way, the government wants to help households keep energy costs low. Energy companies include the tax rates in their customers’ bills.

Gambling tax goes up

The tax on gambling is expected to go up in 2 steps. In 2025, the tax should rise from 30.5% to 34.2%. The tax will then go up again to 37.8% in 2026.

This increase will apply to anyone who runs games of chance, such as casino games, online gambling, sports betting, or gaming machines. The government wants to raise more tax revenue with this increase.

Pay transfer tax when buying property with shares

Are you buying new property via share transactions? For example, a business premises. From 2025, you will pay 4% transfer tax (OVB) for this. Currently you pay no VAT or transfer tax when you buy property through a share deal. This is because of the property transfer tax concurrence exemption (samenloopvrijstelling). For direct purchase and delivery of new real estate, however, the seller must pay 21% VAT.

Through this measure, both forms of property transfer should be taxed more equally. The measure does not apply to real estate projects that have already started. There will be a transitional arrangement for these.

Company succession scheme changes

The rules for the business succession scheme (BOR) are expected to change in 2025. If you receive a business through a gift or inheritance, you now pay inheritance or gift tax on it. How much tax you pay depends on the value of the business. You can also use an exemption, the business succession scheme (BOR).

Soon, you will no longer have to pay gift and inheritance tax up to a business value of €1.5 million. That threshold is currently €1,205,871. Is the business value higher than €1.5 million? Then the percentage of the exemption goes down. Above €1.5 million euros, it will drop from 83% to 70%.

The continuation requirement is also expected to change. From 2025, you must continue to run the business for 3 years. That is down from the current requirement of 5 years. And the BOR will only apply if you are 21 or older. This age limit does not currently apply.

Are you giving someone a business? With the transfer scheme (doorschuifregeling, DSR), you do not have to pay income tax on the profits you keep. The new owner pays the tax. It is deferred to them. From 2025, a main condition for the DSR changes: the new owner does not have to have been employed by the company for at least 3 years.

There are more changes expected for the BOR from 2026.

Fixed starting rate BPM goes up

The private vehicle and motorcycle tax (belastingen op personenauto's en motorrijwielen, BPM) is going up. The BPM consists of a fixed starting rate and a variable rate, which depends on the vehicle's emissions. In 2025, the fixed rate is expected to go up by about €200. In 2024, the fixed rate was €440.

MRB for a sustainable van

Do you have an electric or zero-emission van for your business? Then you did not pay motor vehicle tax (motorrijtuigenbelasting, MRB) in 2024. In 2025, you are expected to pay MRB, but you will get a 75% discount on the normal rate. From 2026, this discount will end. You will pay the normal rate of MRB on your van.

Due to the growth in the number of electric commercial vehicles, government revenues will be lower. With this measure, the government is making electric drivers contribute to the road network. According to the government, this will ensure stable car tax revenue in the long term.

Do you have a van running on diesel or petrol? Then you will face an MRB rate increase of 15% in 2025 and another 6.96% in 2026.

Both the upper and lower houses of parliament must still vote on the following changes.

Legal entities can hold digital meetings

Starting in 2025, board members and shareholders of BVs, NVs, associations, cooperatives, and owners’ associations are expected to be able to hold their general meetings entirely online. Currently, the law states that meetings must be at least partly in-person.

Conditions for fully online meetings:

• The meeting should resemble an ordinary, physical meeting as much as possible.
• Everyone must be able to take part fully, with images and sound.
• Members and shareholders must agree to fully online meetings in advance.

Easier to employ people with disabilities

Entrepreneurs with more than 25 employees are expected to find it easier to employ people with occupational disabilities.

The labour costs compensation (LKV) for an occupationally disabled employee will soon apply for as long as the employee is employed. Currently, the LKV applies for a maximum of 3 years. Also, a special statement from the Employment Insurance Agency (UWV) will soon no longer be needed to receive this benefit. Moreover, if you employ more people with an occupational disability than is required under the quota scheme, you will receive higher LVK benefits as a bonus.

How are laws made in the Netherlands?

Sometimes a new law or an amendment is announced, and then does not go ahead, or the effective date is postponed. Why do some announced laws come into effect, while others do not?

Roughly speaking, the legislation process works like this. Ministries and the lower house of parliament (Tweede Kamer) prepare laws. Once the lower house of parliament has approved a law, it goes to the upper house (Eerste Kamer). They can only accept or reject the law. If the upper house accepts the proposal, the government publishes the new law in the Staatsblad (Government Gazette).

The effective date of a law can be mentioned in the law itself. Or the law may state that the government will determine the effective date by Royal Decree (Koninklijk Besluit, KB). The KB is published in the Staatsblad.

As the legislative process consists of many steps, it can take a while before a proposed law enters into effect. Changes in the composition of the lower and upper houses of parliament can also affect the progress. If there is a caretaker cabinet in place (demissionair cabinet), it will only handle current affairs and not take any major decisions. 

Supervision and enforcement

In the Netherlands, several organisations are responsible for supervising and enforcing laws. 

Supervision

Several supervisory organisations check whether everyone complies with the law. Examples are the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (Authority for the Financial Markets, AFM), the Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit (Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, NVWA) and the Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg (Healthcare Inspectorate, IGZ).

Enforcers

Municipalities, police, and the Openbaar Ministerie (public prosecution, OM) enforce laws in several ways. Think of performing checks or providing information and advice.

Sanctions

If a person breaks a law, enforcement organisations can impose sanctions. These vary from a fine to a jail sentence. Which sanction applies depends on the severity of the offence.