On a €60.000 salary, the mandatory 8% holiday allowance works out to about €4.800 gross, roughly €2.997 net after the bijzonder tarief withholding, lifting your May payslip to about €6.178 against a regular month's €3.181. Enter your own gross annual salary below to see your exact vakantiegeld figure.
Minimum rate
8%
of gross annual salary
Usual payout
21-25 May
single lump sum
Tax treatment
Box 1
bijzonder tarief withholding
Opt-out threshold
€93.000
gross/year, by written agreement
Mandatory 8.0% minimum
Dutch employers must pay at least 8% of gross salary as vakantiegeld, usually as a lump sum in May.
If active, the ruling's 30% tax-free carve-out applies to vakantiegeld too, since it's ordinary Box 1 salary income like any other pay.
Common salaries:
Vakantiegeld, net in your pocket
€3,247
Gross vakantiegeld
€5,200
Tax withheld on it
€1,953
Approx. marginal rate
37.6%
Regular month
€3,441
Net take-home, no vakantiegeld
Payout month (usually May)
€6,688
Regular net pay + vakantiegeld net
| Gross annual salary | €65,000 |
| Vakantiegeld gross (8.0%) | €5,200 |
| Tax on vakantiegeld | -€1,953 |
| Vakantiegeld, net | €3,247 |
Models vakantiegeld as the mandatory 8% minimum, taxed as ordinary Box 1 income stacked on top of your annual salary (approximating the payroll "bijzonder tarief" special-rate withholding used in the actual May payslip). Uses 2026 Box 1 bands (35.75% / 37.56% / 49.50%). Does not account for the general tax credit, employment tax credit, ZVW health insurance premium, or pension contributions. Employers above roughly 3x minimum wage can contractually reduce or waive vakantiegeld on the excess, which this tool does not detect. For precise figures check your payslip or consult a Dutch tax adviser.
Dutch law doesn't leave holiday pay to an employer's discretion. The Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag sets a floor of 8% of your gross salary earned over the vakantiegeldjaar, the year running 1 June to 31 May rather than the calendar year, and almost every employer pays it as a single lump sum landing between 21 and 25 May.
That lump sum is not a tax-free bonus. It is ordinary Box 1 salary income, and payroll withholds tax on it using the bijzonder tarief, a special table based on your annualised salary level. Because it stacks on top of a regular month's pay rather than being spread across all 12 months, the effective withholding rate applied to it approximates your marginal rate, close to the top of your normal Box 1 band, which is why the May payslip's withholding percentage looks higher than usual even though nothing about your annual liability has actually changed.
If the 30% ruling applies to your employment, it doesn't stop at your regular salary. Vakantiegeld is calculated on the same combined gross income the ruling shelters, so the tax-free carve-out covers the holiday allowance exactly the way it covers everything else you're paid that year.
There is a narrow opt-out. Once your salary clears roughly 3x the statutory minimum wage, an employer and employee can agree in writing to accrue less vakantiegeld, or none, on the portion above that line. It has to be explicit in the contract though, most agreements, even at senior salary levels, still pay the standard 8% by default.
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At least 8% of your gross salary earned over the vakantiegeldjaar (1 June to 31 May), under the Wet minimumloon en minimumvakantiebijslag. On a €60.000 salary that's roughly €4.800 gross. This is a legal minimum, some employers pay more via a collective labour agreement (cao), but 8% is the floor almost every Dutch employee can expect.
Almost always as a single lump sum, typically between 21-25 May, though some employers pay it in June or spread it monthly if that's specified in your contract or cao. Check your contract if you're unsure which method applies to you.
Yes, it's ordinary taxable Box 1 income, not a tax-free bonus. In the payout month, payroll typically withholds tax on it using a special table (bijzonder tarief) based on your annualised salary level, which in practice taxes it close to your marginal rate since it stacks on top of your regular pay rather than being spread across 12 months. On a €60.000 salary, that leaves about €2.997 net from the allowance itself, lifting your May payslip to roughly €6.178 net against a regular month's €3.181, an extra €2.997 that month. Over the full tax year the total tax bill converges to the same figure either way.
Yes. Vakantiegeld is ordinary Box 1 salary income, so if the 30% ruling applies to your employment, its tax-free carve-out applies to the vakantiegeld portion exactly the same way it applies to your regular pay, calculated on your combined gross income for the year.
Only above roughly 3x the statutory minimum wage (around €93.000/year gross at 2026 minimum-wage levels), and only if you and your employer have agreed this in writing. It's an opt-in exception, not a default, so most contracts, even at higher salaries, still pay the full 8% unless yours explicitly says otherwise.
Usually not. Most Dutch job postings quote a base gross salary that excludes vakantiegeld, meaning your actual annual cash received is typically about 8% higher than the headline figure once the May lump sum lands. Always check whether an offer's quoted salary already includes vakantiegeld or not before comparing offers.
It models the mandatory 8% minimum and 2026 Box 1 tax bands (35.75% / 37.56% / 49.50%), approximating the payroll bijzonder tarief withholding. It doesn't account for the general tax credit, employment tax credit, ZVW health insurance premium, or pension contributions, and doesn't detect contractual exceptions above the roughly €93,000 threshold. Check your payslip or consult a Dutch tax adviser for exact figures.
Related reading & tools
Go deeper on the mechanics, timing, and 30% ruling interaction.
What to check next
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