Step 2: Filing your 2024 tax return

If you made any donations (for which you have proof) to one or more public benefit organisations (known as ‘ANBIs’ in Dutch) in 2024, we advise you to make a list of these donations. If they meet certain conditions, donations are tax deductible. A distinction is made here between ‘one-off’ gifts and ‘recurring’ donations (a regular, ongoing donation).

A threshold and a maximum apply when deducting one-off gifts. No threshold applies to recurring donations, but you do need to meet a number of conditions, including that the donation is laid down in an agreement.

If you make a donation to a cultural public benefit organisation, you may deduct 1.25 times the donation amount from your income, up to a maximum of €1,250. You will reach this maximum if you give at least €5,000 to cultural public benefit organisations in a calendar year.

Expenses incurred due to sickness or disability are deductible under certain conditions. You may only deduct the medical expenses in the tax return for the year in which you paid these expenses if they were not reimbursed. Expenses that fall under the voluntary or compulsory excess are non-deductible.

• Any costs that relate directly to taking out, extending or repaying a loan for your home in Box 1 are deductible as a lump sum from your taxable income in Box 1 for the year in which these costs were incurred. These costs include advice and brokerage fees for your mortgage adviser, notary fees and land registry fees in relation to the mortgage deed, valuation costs to get the mortgage, and the costs involved in applying for the National Mortgage Guarantee.
• If you incurred charges because you remortgaged or repaid the mortgage for your home early in 2024, you can deduct these charges as a lump sum from your taxable income in Box 1.
• The maximum rate for the deduction of costs relating to your own home is 36.93%, regardless of your income. The deduction is calculated automatically when completing the tax return. 

Mortgage deductions and a bigger tax break

If you borrowed money in 2024 from your company, a family member or another person to be able to buy your home, you must state this loan separately on your tax return.

If you took out a loan from your own company in 2024 for your home, the condition is that a right of mortgage must be established in favour of the company.

In Box 3 (taxable income from savings and investments), you pay no tax on assets below your tax-free allowance of €57,000 (or €114,000 for tax partners). Any assets above that threshold are taxed at a flat rate – that means it’s the same for everyone. This tax rate is based on the assumed return on your savings and investments. 

If you would pay less tax based on the actual return rather than the assumed return, you are entitled to a refund of the excess tax paid. 

To qualify for the refund, you must be able to provide evidence of the actual return. The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) is currently designing a form specifically for this purpose. As the form is expected to be available only from mid-2025, you’ll need to apply the assumed rate in your next tax return. The Belastingdienst will also release a form for pre-2024 tax years.

If you pay spousal maintenance to your ex-partner, the amount you pay is tax-deductible. Your ex-partner must declare the same amount as income on their income tax return. Child maintenance is not tax deductible, nor is it considered a form of deductible debt for the purpose of Box 3 either.

Given that the death occurred in 2024, this means that at 00:00 on 1 January 2024 you did not have any inheritance tax debt relating to this death yet. You can include this debt in your 2025 income tax return, which you can file with the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration from March 2026 onwards.