Hans Van Ruiten

On 4 April 2025, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the 30%-reimbursement qualifies as wages for the purposes of the pseudo-final levy on excessive severance payments. With this judgment, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal of 's-Hertogenbosch, which had reached the opposite conclusion. This ruling has significant practical implications.

Supreme Court Ruling 4 april 2025 The case concerned an employee benefiting from the 30%-ruling who received a substantial severance payment upon termination of employment. In calculating the pseudo-final levy, the Dutch tax inspector included wage components designated as final levy elements under the work-related costs scheme (WKR), including the 30%-reimbursement, in the wage base.

Do you hire self-employed individuals with an agreement based on the Model agreement "unrestricted substitution"? If so, you should know that as of January 1, 2024, the Dutch Tax Authorities no longer provide certainty that work is being performed in the context of self-employment. The approval granted by the Dutch Tax Authorities and the model agreements "unrestricted substitution", which are derived from it, will be withdrawn as of January 1, 2024.