The 30% Ruling and Freelancing: Why ZZP'ers Don't Qualify (and the BV Route That Does)

You came to the Netherlands with the 30% ruling — or you're counting on getting it — and now you want to freelance. Here's the uncomfortable truth up front: a regular ZZP'er with an eenmanszaak cannot use the 30% ruling. At all. But there is a legal route that keeps the tax break alive: a BV that employs you as its director. In this guide we explain why sole traders are excluded, how the BV route works, the 3-month window that decides everything if you already hold the ruling, and — honestly — when the whole construction is not worth the money. Part of our series on freelancing in the Netherlands without speaking Dutch.

What the 30% Ruling Actually Is (and Why That Matters)

The 30% ruling — officially now called the Expat Scheme (expatregeling) by the Belastingdienst — is not an income tax discount for expats. It is a facility in payroll tax law: it allows an employer to reimburse the "extraterritorial costs" of an incoming employee either against receipts or, more simply, by paying up to 30% of the salary tax-free. Everything about the ruling flows from that one technical fact.

The single load-bearing requirement is an employment relationship with a Dutch withholding agent — a party that runs payroll and remits wage tax. No employer, no payroll, no ruling. Confused by terms like Box 1, Box 2 or loonbelasting? Keep our Dutch tax glossary for expats open in a second tab.

The other headline conditions: you must have specific expertise (in practice tested via the salary norm), and you must have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before starting work in the Netherlands. That 150 km rule excludes Belgium, Luxembourg and the border regions of Germany, France and the UK. The salary norm for under-30s with a Dutch master's degree is lower: €36,497 in 2026. Prior periods of work in the Netherlands are deducted from the 5-year maximum.

Why a ZZP'er With an Eenmanszaak Simply Cannot Qualify

Follow the logic. As a sole trader (eenmanszaak) you have no employer and you pay no wage to yourself — your business profit flows straight to you and is taxed in Box 1 as business income. There is no payroll, no withholding agent, and therefore nothing for the facility to attach to. The Belastingdienst is explicit: you can only apply for the Expat Scheme if you are in paid employment. A sole proprietorship is legally not an employment relationship — full stop.

The consequence is harsh: an expat who arrives in the Netherlands and registers only an eenmanszaak gets no expat tax facility at all — no matter how scarce their skills or how high their income. This also applies to Americans freelancing here under the DAFT treaty, who typically operate as sole traders: the DAFT visa solves your right to stay, but it does nothing for the 30% ruling question.

The BV Route: Become an Employee of Your Own Company

A BV (besloten vennootschap) — the Dutch private limited company — is a separate legal entity. You can be both its shareholder and its employed director: the DGA (directeur-grootaandeelhouder, director-major shareholder). Because the BV employs you and registers as a payroll-tax withholding agent, a genuine employment relationship now exists. The BV can apply the 30% ruling to your DGA salary. For tax purposes you are no longer "self-employed" — you are an employee of your own company, which is exactly what the facility requires. Not sure what a BV involves in general? Start with our ZZP vs BV comparison.

Scenario 1: You arrive fresh and start via a BV

If you are recruited from abroad and a BV (your own or someone else's) employs you, you can apply for the ruling from scratch. You must then meet all the entry conditions: the 150 km rule, the salary norm, the specific-expertise test, and genuine recruitment from abroad.

Scenario 2: You already have the ruling and want to go independent

This is the common path — and the one with a hard deadline. You can carry your existing 30% ruling into your own BV, treated as a change of employer. On this transfer, the "recruited from abroad" condition (including the 150 km look-back) is not re-tested. Your salary must still meet the norm, and a new application must be filed.

Timeline: How the Ruling Is Being Trimmed Down

If your mental model of the 30% ruling dates from before 2024, update it. The scheme has been trimmed on three fronts, and 2026 is a pivot year.

The Numbers: What Your BV Must Pay You

Two salary floors apply to a DGA with the ruling, and you must satisfy both. First, the 30%-ruling salary norm: €48,013 taxable salary in 2026 (that is the 70% part — advisers commonly recommend staying at least €1 above it). Second, the DGA customary wage (gebruikelijk loon): as a director-shareholder your BV must pay you at least €58,000 in 2026 (up from €56,000 in 2025), set as the highest of three statutory benchmarks. Because the customary wage is higher than the ruling norm, paying yourself the customary wage normally clears the ruling threshold automatically.

The Honest Cost-Benefit: Stay ZZP or Build the BV?

A BV is not free money. You take on notary fees, payroll administration, corporate tax filings and annual accounts — and the 30% advantage runs out after at most 5 years, while the BV's costs continue. Here is the structural comparison at 2026 rates (see our full 2026 ZZP tax rates guide for the Box 1 details):

When the BV route can pay off

When it is NOT worth it

And remember the deadline from the top of this article: from 2027 your BV shares fall fully under Box 2 worldwide taxation for everyone — the old shelter is gone. Any BV business case built on pre-2025 assumptions is out of date.

Get Professional Advice Before You Move

Of all the decisions covered in this series, this is the most consequential one. It combines incorporation law, payroll tax, the customary-wage rules, corporate tax, Box 2, and a hard 3-month deadline that — once missed — cannot be repaired. A good advisor will model your exact numbers: expected profit, remaining ruling years, the gross salary your BV must actually pay (including the unresolved 70%-base question above), dividend planning, and what happens after year 5. That modelling typically costs a fraction of what a wrong structure costs. If you don't have an advisor yet, our guide to finding an English-speaking accountant in the Netherlands is the place to start. This article is general information, not tax advice.

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Bottom line: the 30% ruling and a plain eenmanszaak are structurally incompatible — but if you already hold the ruling and your freelance profits justify it, the BV route can preserve the break for the years you have left. The order of steps and the 3-month deadline decide everything, so plan before you resign.