how the 30% ruling affects your mortgage

Whether the 30% ruling helps your mortgage depends entirely on which lender you go to. The Belastingdienst grants the ruling against your full gross salary, but each Dutch bank decides independently how to treat that allowance for affordability. Most large lenders accept the full gross. A minority treat only the taxable 70% as countable income, which can shave €60,000–€100,000 off your borrowing capacity for the same job. Knowing which camp each lender sits in before you submit is the single biggest lever an independent advisor pulls for ruling-holders.

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Key facts
  • →Most large Dutch lenders accept the full gross salary including the 30% allowance.
  • →A minority test on the taxable 70% only — capacity drops by 20–25%.
  • →ABN AMRO, ING, Rabobank, Aegon and Munt are in the “full gross” camp. [verify: current lender list]
  • →The ruling end date matters — some lenders model affordability past year 5.
  • →The 2027 drop to 27% does not affect existing rulings until they expire.
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Why lenders disagree on the same income

The 30% ruling has two faces in payroll. The tax-free allowance is real cash in your bank account, but it is technically a “cost reimbursement” under Dutch wage tax — not part of your taxable employment income. Lenders read that two ways:

  • The “full gross” view. The allowance is contractual, predictable for five years, and tied to a permanent-style employment relationship. It counts as income. This is how ABN AMRO, ING, Rabobank and most major lenders treat it.
  • The “taxable only” view. The allowance is technically a reimbursement that ends in five years, so only the taxable 70% is durable income. This is how a few specialist and second-tier lenders treat it.

For a €100,000 gross salary, the full-gross view gives you roughly 4.5–5x leverage on the full amount. The taxable-only view leverages on €70,000. That difference is roughly the price of a small apartment.

What happens when your ruling expires

Most lenders look beyond the five-year horizon, but how far depends on the product:

  1. Full-fixed-period view. Some lenders model affordability for the whole fixed-rate period (10, 20 or 30 years). They subtract the 30% allowance from years 6 onward and test whether you can still afford the payment.
  2. Five-year view. Other lenders only test the first five years, assuming you will refinance or change circumstances by then. This is more generous up front.
  3. Hybrid view. A growing number use a hybrid — counting 30% for the first five years and a salary growth assumption thereafter.

For a 35-year-old joining ASML on €120,000, the difference between these models is rarely the deal-breaker. For an older buyer near the end of their career, or for a borderline-affordability case, it can decide whether the mortgage goes through.

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How to use the ruling without overstretching

The temptation with extra borrowing capacity is to use all of it. Three rules of thumb we apply with Brainport and Arnhem clients:

  • Plan post-ruling. Run the numbers as if the ruling ended tomorrow. If your net take-home would still cover the mortgage plus normal life, you are not over-leveraged.
  • Watch the 2027 cut for new arrivals. If you start work in 2027 or later your ruling will be 27%, not 30%. The borrowing capacity impact is small but real — a few thousand euros less per €100,000 of income.
  • Mind the end-date overlap. If your ruling expires in year 8 of a 10-year fixed rate, the refinancing window will land right when your taxable income jumps. Build that into your fixed-rate choice.

A good advisor models all three scenarios — current ruling, ruling expired, and 27%-ruling — in the same affordability table before placing the application.

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Frequently asked questions

Most major lenders do, on the full gross. A minority count only the taxable 70%. The right answer depends on which bank you submit to, which is why an independent advisor checks all of them before placing the application.

Yes, but expect tighter underwriting. Some lenders apply a haircut when the remaining ruling period is shorter than three years. Others ignore the remaining duration and look at total fixed-rate-period affordability.

No. Existing rulings keep 30% to their original end date, and your mortgage offer was based on the income at the time of application. Only refinancing or extra borrowing would be tested against the new rate.

No, the ruling is personal. If both partners have their own ruling, both count separately. If only one does, only that contract counts.

Yes. NHG uses the same gross-income test as the major lenders. Adding NHG does not change how the ruling is counted, only the rate and the residual-debt cover.

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Reviewed by Joan Ottenheim, CFP & FFP — last reviewed 2026-05-12.

Independent · AFM-registered · CFP & FFP credentials · Offices in Eindhoven and Arnhem.