Investing from the Netherlands: box 3, lijfrente, dividends

• Box 3 in 2026: an assumed return of 6.00% on investments such as shares, bonds and crypto. Bank balances are set at 1.28% and debts at 2.70%; both of these are provisional and will be fixed in early 2027.
• Tax rate: 36% on the benefit from savings and investments.
• Tax-free allowance (heffingsvrij vermogen): EUR 59,357 per person, EUR 118,714 for fiscal partners together.
• Counter-evidence: since 1 July 2025 you can reclaim box 3 tax you overpaid if you prove your actual return.
• Reform: the act taxing the actual return is not in force. The cabinet proposes taxing gains on financial instruments on sale from 2028; that is a proposal, not law.
• Dividends: 15% Dutch dividend tax, creditable in your income tax return. On US dividends the treaty rate is 15%.

For 2026 the Belastingdienst works under the bridging legislation (Overbruggingswetgeving) with fixed percentages per type of asset:

The benefit from savings and investments calculated this way is taxed at 36%.

What counts is the value on 1 January 2026. That includes accounts outside the Netherlands, so an account with a foreign broker counts too. You convert assets held in another currency into euros at the exchange rate of 1 January 2026. Debts count only above a threshold of EUR 3,800, or EUR 7,600 with a fiscal partner for the whole year.

The tax-free allowance is EUR 59,357 per person; with a fiscal partner for the whole year it is EUR 118,714 together.

One consequence: in the current system the tax attaches to the value on the reference date, not to an individual sale; how long you hold a security plays no part in it. That holds only while the current system applies; the cabinet's proposal for 2028 would change it for financial instruments (see below).

Since 1 July 2025, taxpayers who paid too much in box 3 can reclaim money. To do so they must show that their actual return was lower. This is set out in the box 3 counter-evidence act (Wet tegenbewijsregeling box 3); the form is called "Opgaaf werkelijk rendement". The scheme applies until the new system starts.

For 2026 the Belastingdienst writes: if your actual return later turns out lower than the assumed one, it adjusts your box 3 income in your 2026 income tax return.

For that you need figures from your broker. LYNX writes on its Dutch page about the scheme that the form requires certain account data for the year concerned, and points to its annual Activity Statement. That is an account statement, not a tax form in the Dutch format. We have not checked which other brokers provide documents for this form.

• The Tweede Kamer passed the act on the actual return in box 3 (Wet werkelijk rendement box 3, Kamerstuk 36.748) on 12 February 2026.
• In a letter of 19 June 2026, according to the Rijksoverheid, the cabinet wrote that this bill remains the basis for box 3 from 2028; any changes would come in the 2027 tax plan, and a tax on realised gains (vermogenswinstbelasting) is being studied.
• The Eerste Kamer held its plenary debate on 30 June 2026 and postponed the vote until the announced amending bill (novelle) has been dealt with.
• On 13 October 2026 its finance committee provisionally agreed with the cabinet's route and is waiting for the Tweede Kamer to deal with the novelle. The act is not in force.

What the cabinet proposes in its letter of 29 September 2026 (sent to the Eerste Kamer on 30 September 2026) is not law either:

• From 2028, gains on all financial instruments, including shares, bonds and options, would be taxed on sale; for the remaining assets this would follow in 2030.
• The box 3 allowance would return to its 2020 level from 2027, EUR 30,846.
• From 2028 a tax-free result (heffingsvrij resultaat) of EUR 1,000 would apply.

If that happens, the timing of a sale would matter again for financial instruments. We do not know how the reform will end.

The lijfrente is the Dutch third-pillar product. It exists as an insurance policy, an account (lijfrenterekening) and an investment right (lijfrentebeleggingsrecht).

• Deduction only with a pension shortfall: contributions are deductible only in a year in which you have a shortfall in your pension build-up (pensioentekort), and only up to your annual room (jaarruimte).
• Unused room: in 2026 the reserve (reserveringsruimte) covers unused room from the years 2016–2025 and is capped at EUR 42,753.
• Age: you normally have annual room if you had a pension shortfall in 2025 and have not yet reached AOW age plus 5 years.

DEGIRO offers such an account in the Netherlands (pensioenrekening). According to DEGIRO, the balance is meant for after retirement: by the end of the 5th year after reaching AOW age at the latest, you must use the end capital to buy a right to payments. Withdrawing earlier can cost you the tax benefit, and a penalty often applies. On the same page DEGIRO gives EUR 38,000 for the room; the Belastingdienst gives EUR 42,753 for 2026. The Belastingdienst figure is the one that counts.

None of the sources we retrieved says whether such an account is exempt from box 3. We therefore make no statement about it.

Two Dutch providers that we do not compare and do not rate also offer a pensioenrekening: Meesman (licensed by the AFM according to its own statement; we could not confirm the register entry) and Brand New Day (describes itself as an online pension bank; we have not checked its supervision in a register).

Green investments and green savings are exempt in box 3: in 2026 up to EUR 26,715 without and EUR 53,430 with a fiscal partner. On top comes a tax credit of 0.1% of the exempt amount. It applies only to funds and investments on the Belastingdienst's overview.

• Dutch dividends: the distributing company withholds 15% dividend tax. Individuals can credit this amount in their income tax return.
• US dividends: under the treaty between the United States and the Netherlands, US withholding tax on dividends is 15%; 5% applies only to qualifying direct holdings of companies (IRS, Table 1).

We have not checked how tax withheld abroad is credited in the Netherlands.

• Investor compensation (beleggerscompensatiestelsel): all Dutch banks and investment firms licensed by DNB or the AFM are covered. If the firm fails, you receive at most EUR 20,000 per person; the final amount depends on the claim. According to the Rijksoverheid, investment firms must keep client assets separate from their own.
• Deposit guarantee (depositogarantiestelsel): at most EUR 100,000 per account holder per bank.
• Firms with an EU passport: according to the AFM, a firm operating with a European passport has no AFM licence and is supervised by the AFM only to a limited extent. It is licensed by the supervisor of its home country.

Which company is your contracting party and where it is licensed is shown on the broker pages. More on the protection schemes: regulation and deposit protection.

• Lijfrente: DEGIRO (pensioenrekening). We found no such account at Saxo.
• Documents for the counter-claim: LYNX (Activity Statement with notes on the form).
• Website in Dutch: DEGIRO, LYNX, Saxo, BUX, Lightyear and Trade Republic.

The overview with source and date for every entry is on the page brokers for investors in the Netherlands. All brokers that accept clients resident in the Netherlands: broker directory for the Netherlands; for ETF investors: ETF brokers for the Netherlands.

• whether a lijfrente account is exempt from box 3;
• whether the Netherlands levies a tax on securities transactions: the source in our research supported no statement, neither yes nor no;
• how withholding tax deducted abroad is credited in the Netherlands;
• which other brokers provide documents for the "Opgaaf werkelijk rendement" form, and how Trade Republic, Revolut, Bitpanda and eToro handle Dutch tax;
• the final 2026 percentages for bank balances and debts (they follow in early 2027) and the outcome of the reform;
• Meesman's register entry and the supervision of Brand New Day.

1. 1Record the value of all accounts on 1 January, foreign ones included.
2. 2If your actual return was lower than the assumed one, collect the annual statements for the "Opgaaf werkelijk rendement" form.
3. 3Before paying into a lijfrente, have your annual room calculated; the Belastingdienst explains how.
4. 4Follow the reform: from 2028, sales of financial instruments could count for tax again.

• Belastingdienst, Berekening box 3-inkomen 2026
• Belastingdienst, Fiscale Informatie 2026: Bezittingen en schulden (box 3) and Uitgaven voor inkomensvoorzieningen
• Belastingdienst, Hoe bereken ik mijn jaarruimte? and Groene beleggingen
• Belastingdienst, Dividendbelasting and Als u dividend uitkeert
• Rijksoverheid, Box 3 and Tijdlijn werkelijk rendement box 3
• Rijksoverheid, Beleggingsonderneming failliet and Depositogarantiestelsel
• Eerste Kamer, Wetsvoorstel 36.748 Wet werkelijk rendement box 3 and the cabinet's letter of 29 September 2026
• AFM, Register beleggingsondernemingen
• IRS, Tax Treaty Table 1
• DEGIRO, Lijfrente en belastingvoordeel; LYNX, Tegenbewijsregeling box 3
• Meesman, home page; Brand New Day, home page

This article is for information only and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice.