Just ten days after the House of Representatives reluctantly approved a new wealth tax on savings, investments, and real estate, the Jetten cabinet is moving to scrap it.
Finance Minister Eelco Heinen has taken matters into his own hands, announcing that the new Box 3 tax system should be amended — before it even reaches the Eerste Kamer (Senate).
According to AD, Heinen claimed that “something simply didn’t go right,” adding that the bill needs some serious adjustments before it can go to the Eerste Kamer.
What exactly is this new law?
At the moment, the Belastingdienst taxes people based on assumed returns from their assets, rather than what they actually earn. This is dubbed “Box 3 income.”
In 2021, the Hoge Raad (Supreme Court) ruled that taxing people on fictitious returns was unlawful.
Since then, the House of Representatives has been scrambling to find a way to tax our capital gains.
READ MORE | Netherlands introduces changes to Box 3 tax: what it means for your money
The new Wet werkelijk rendement box 3 (Act on Actual Box 3 Returns) was designed to fix this, taxing real income rather than an imaginary interest rate of an economy we no longer live in.
But helaas, the fix that was meant to go into effect starting in 2028 is already being questioned.
What’s wrong with it?
Perhaps a better question is, “What’s not wrong with it?”
The heart of the problem remains the same: you are taxed on income that is not yet tangible.
Under the new legislation, investors would owe tax on assets that have risen in value — even if they haven’t sold them yet.
Say you hold €10,000 worth of Bitcoin. The price surges, and your portfolio jumps to €15,000. You haven’t sold a single coin, so that €5,000 gain exists only on paper. Yet under the new policy, you would owe tax on it regardless.
Rich people around the world seem to have a problem with it.
💯😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 13, 2026
Heinen specifically named the lack of loss offsetting as a legitimate concern. If your shares drop in value the following year, the Belastingdienst won’t give anything back.
The Finance Minister also flagged that it’s almost impossible to convert paper gains into cash. You may end up having to liquidate your entire portfolio just to pay your taxes.
Who else is unhappy?
Aside from backlash from other parties in the coalition, some of whom called Heinen’s move “downright inappropriate,” several investors might be glad that the new policy has already been scrapped.
Prince Constantijn of Orange, who leads TechLeap (a government body that helps Dutch startups grow), also spoke out against the law.
Prins Constantijn, speciaal gezant van Techleap, is niet blij met de nieuwe box 3-belasting. Die raakt ook beleggers. "Dit wil je niet", zegt Constantijn. "Dit is jezelf in de voet schieten. Je moet belasten op het moment dat je aandelen verkoopt." #WNLOpZondag #WNL pic.twitter.com/YKveqoqSqv
— WNL Op Zondag (@WNLOpZondag) February 22, 2026
Translation: Prince Constantijn, Techleap’s special envoy, is not pleased with the new box 3 tax. It also affects investors. “You don’t want this,” says Constantijn. “This is shooting yourself in the foot. You should tax at the moment you sell your shares.” #WNLOpZondag #WNL
His concern? Many startups pay staff partly in shares. If those shares increase in value, employees could face a substantial tax bill on money they haven’t yet received.
“This is undesirable,” he said on WNL op Zondag.
The bill did try to address this with an exception for startup shares. But the rules were considered too strict, reports NOS.
“There has been a lot of criticism on the Wet werkelijk rendement,” says a spokesperson for Heinen. “We’re not deaf to that. The bill needs to be amended,” he adds.
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