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Director-shareholder (DGA) salary calculator - Netherlands 2026

Free Director-shareholder (DGA) salary calculator for Netherlands (2026). Estimate gross-to-net take-home pay: income tax, social contributions and net salary. Educational, not tax advice.

Simon Bodych

by Simon Bodych

Methodology & sources

Methodology - Netherlands (2026)

Educational model - not the official payroll withholding tables (witte tabellen), not a final tax assessment, not tax advice.

Employee (arbeidsovereenkomst)

  • Box 1 rates 2026 (below the AOW state pension age): 35.75% up to EUR 38,883; 37.56% up to EUR 78,426; 49.50% above. The first bracket rate includes the national insurance premiums (AOW 17.90%, Anw 0.10%, Wlz 9.65%).
  • General tax credit (algemene heffingskorting) 2026: maximum EUR 3,115, phased out at 6.398% of income above EUR 29,736, nil above EUR 78,426.
  • Labour tax credit (arbeidskorting) 2026: 8.425% of income up to EUR 11,491; then EUR 968 plus 31.433% up to EUR 24,820; then EUR 5,158 plus 2.537% up to EUR 45,592 (maximum EUR 5,685); phased out at 6.51% above EUR 45,592, nil from EUR 132,920.
  • The loonheffingskorting toggle (default on, as on a primary job) applies both credits; both are non-refundable.
  • The annual gross is interpreted as INCLUDING the statutory 8% holiday allowance (vakantiegeld). The monthly figure is 1/12 of that total; Dutch payslips usually pay vakantiegeld out in May, the annual totals are the same.
  • Employees pay no separate social security deduction: worker insurance premiums and the healthcare levy are employer costs (see below); national insurance sits inside the box 1 rates.
  • Employer cost view 2026, each on the wage capped at EUR 79,409 per year: unemployment premium AWf laag 2.74% (permanent contracts; flexible contracts pay 7.74%), disability premium Aof laag 6.27% (small employer default; medium/large employers pay 7.63%) plus the 0.50% childcare surcharge (opslag Wko), Whk return-to-work premium at the 2026 sector average of 1.52% (WGA 0.96% + ZW-flex 0.56%; in practice set per employer by the UWV), and the healthcare levy (werkgeversheffing Zvw) of 6.10%.
  • Occupational pension schemes are not statutory uniform in the Netherlands (they depend on the sector fund or employer plan) and are out of scope.
  • Out of scope: the 30% ruling for incoming employees, the exact payroll withholding tables, the special rate (bijzonder tarief) on one-off payments, company car addition (bijtelling), the nominal health insurance premium paid privately to the insurer, and rates for workers at or above the AOW age.

Sources: Belastingdienst - Box 1 rates, Belastingdienst - General tax credit table 2026, Belastingdienst - Labour tax credit table 2026, Staatscourant 2025, 42324 - premium percentages 2026, Rijksoverheid - Minimum wage amounts 2026.

ZZP / self-employed (zelfstandige)

  • Net business profit = revenue - expenses, taxed in box 1 at the same 2026 rates as an employee, after two entrepreneur deductions.
  • Self-employed deduction (zelfstandigenaftrek) 2026: EUR 1,200, available only when the 1,225-hours criterion (urencriterium, art. 3.6 Wet IB 2001) is met - a toggle in the calculator, default on. The deduction is being phased down (2025: EUR 2,470; 2027: EUR 900).
  • SME profit exemption (MKB-winstvrijstelling) 2026: 12.7% of the profit after the entrepreneur deduction, always applied.
  • Both deductions are only effective at the basic rate: for the part of income in the top bracket the model adds back 11.94% (49.50% minus 37.56%) of the deductions, mirroring the statutory rate adjustment.
  • The general tax credit and the labour tax credit apply as for employees; the labour income (arbeidsinkomen) for the labour tax credit is the profit before the entrepreneur deduction and the SME profit exemption, while the general tax credit phases out on the taxable profit.
  • Healthcare levy: the self-employed pay the income-dependent Zvw contribution themselves at 4.85% (2026) of the taxable profit, capped at a contribution income of EUR 79,409.
  • No unemployment (WW) or disability (WIA) cover: ZZP'ers are not insured under the worker insurance schemes; voluntary insurance and private AOV policies are out of scope.
  • Out of scope: starter's deduction (startersaftrek) and the other entrepreneur deductions, VAT/btw and the small business scheme (KOR), voluntary pension and disability premiums, loss carry-over, the 30% ruling, and rates at or above the AOW age.

Belastingdienst - Self-employed deduction, Belastingdienst - SME profit exemption 2026, Belastingdienst - Zvw contribution percentages, wetten.overheid.nl - Wet inkomstenbelasting 2001.

Director-shareholder (DGA, directeur-grootaandeelhouder)

  • A DGA holds at least 5% of the shares of their BV and draws a salary from it; this mode models the payroll on that salary for 2026.
  • Customary salary rule (gebruikelijkloonregeling, art. 12a Wet LB 1964): the salary must be at least the HIGHEST of (a) the salary of the most comparable employment, (b) the salary of the highest-earning regular employee of the company or its affiliates, and (c) the norm amount of EUR 58,000 in 2026 (2025: EUR 56,000). The calculator anchors on the norm amount and shows a warning below it; agreeing a lower salary with the Belastingdienst (starters, part-time, loss-making companies) is possible but out of scope.
  • No employee insurances: a DGA who (together with close relatives) controls their own dismissal is not insured under the worker insurance schemes (Regeling aanwijzing directeur-grootaandeelhouder 2016). The BV pays NO unemployment premium (AWf), NO disability premium (Aof) with its childcare surcharge, and NO Whk premium. Company cost equals the gross salary.
  • Healthcare levy flips to the employee side: instead of the 6.10% employer levy (werkgeversheffing Zvw), the income-dependent contribution (bijdrage Zvw) of 4.85% (2026) is withheld from the DGA's wage, capped at a contribution income of EUR 79,409.
  • Wage tax on the salary is the normal box 1 calculation: the 2026 brackets (35.75% / 37.56% / 49.50%) and, with the loonheffingskorting toggle on, the general tax credit and the labour tax credit. The customary salary is wage from current employment, so the labour tax credit applies in full.
  • Dividends the DGA takes on top of the salary are taxed in box 2: 24.5% on the first EUR 68,843 of substantial-interest income per person and 31% above that (2026). The BV first withholds 15% dividend tax, credited against the box 2 assessment. Modelling the salary-versus-dividend mix is out of scope; this is a note only.
  • Out of scope: proving a lower most-comparable-employment salary, DGAs who remain insured for employee insurances (for example minority co-directors who can be dismissed against their will - they are taxed like regular employees, use the employee mode), pension accrual in eigen beheer (abolished in 2017), the 30% ruling, and corporate income tax of the BV itself.

Sources: Belastingdienst - Customary salary rule (gebruikelijk loon), Belastingdienst - Employer levy or withheld Zvw contribution table, Belastingdienst - Zvw contribution percentages, Belastingdienst - Box 2 rates, wetten.overheid.nl - Wet op de loonbelasting 1964 (art. 12a), wetten.overheid.nl - Regeling aanwijzing directeur-grootaandeelhouder 2016.