Dutch Senate weighs bill to tax actual investment returns instead of assumed ones
The Actual Return Box 3 Act, already passed by the House, would replace the Netherlands' current wealth tax with a 36% levy on real gains from 2028.
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The Dutch government is pressing ahead with a plan to overhaul how it taxes savings and investments, replacing a system based on assumed returns with one that taxes actual income and capital gains at a rate of 36%, according to PwC Netherlands and DTS Duijn's Tax Solutions.
The current system, known as Box 3, taxes a fictional rate of return rather than what an investor actually earns. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled this unlawful in its 2021 'Christmas Judgment', according to PwC Netherlands, forcing the government to redesign the tax.
The replacement, called the Actual Return Box 3 Act, would apply to realised capital gains, interest, dividends and rental income, along with unrealised gains on some asset classes, PwC and countrytaxcalc.com report. Primary residences would stay taxed under a separate system, Box 1, but other property, investments and savings would fall under the new rules, affecting retail investors and owners of second homes, according to DTS Duijn's Tax Solutions. Shares in family businesses and unlisted start-ups would only be taxed when sold, on emigration, or on death, Meijburg & Co reports.
The House of Representatives adopted the bill on 12 February 2026 and it is now before the Senate, according to PwC Netherlands. The Senate has postponed its vote while the State Secretary considers amendments, including a loss carry-back mechanism and changes to how property is added to the tax base, PwC says. Implementation, originally set for 2027, was pushed back to 2028 after the Council of State raised concerns, and the government has addressed a related €2.5 billion budget shortfall by raising the deemed return on other assets and lowering the tax-free allowance, according to KPMG. An earlier version of the overhaul stalled when the Dutch cabinet fell in June 2025, KPMG reported at the time, leaving the caretaker government to carry the reform forward.