Dutch innovation and talent at risk after 30% ruling for expats slashed

While some unions seem thrilled about the House of Representatives’ recent decision, other organisations, universities, and companies would beg to differ.

On Thursday night, the House of Representatives voted in favour of making cuts in the expat scheme. Turns out, the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) is in full support of this decision.

The main reason why? The FNV weren’t fond of the tax benefits it granted expats.

They also worried it would create “unfair competition” between foreign employees and Dutch nationals, the NOS reports.

Top salaries for top talent

Not every organisation is as enthusiastic about the votes, though. The Employers’ organization VNO-NCW, for example, claims that binning the 30% rule will ward off international talent.

Yup, according to the VNO-NCW, skilled foreigners are in high demand, particularly for high-tech companies and research institutions based in the Netherlands.

Not only that, but Minister Adriaansens of Economic Affairs chimed in with the VNO-NCW’s concerns, saying this new tax scheme will put a dent in how “attractive” the Netherlands is for outsiders. After all, “top talent expect top salaries”.

One company, Just Eat Takeaway, blames the fact that there isn’t enough of a labour supply in the Netherlands to fill all the available data and tech roles, leading companies to seek workers from overseas.

Several universities and colleges across the country teamed up and also jumped on the disapproving bandwagon — which is no surprise, considering 10,000 of their employees rely on this scheme.

Are you in favour of cutting the 30% ruling or not? Share your reasoning in the comments below!

Feature Image:Depositphotos
Ellen Ranebo
Ellen Ranebo
As someone half Swedish and half Irish who has lived in the Netherlands, the UK, and attended an American School, Ellen is a cocktail of various nationalities. Having had her fair share of bike accidents, near-death experiences involving canals, and miscommunications while living here (Swedish and Dutch have deceptively similar words with very different meanings), she hopes to have (and document) plenty more in future.

1 COMMENT

  1. bad idea to remove this for people who are already availing this . people would have made decision of coming to NL keeping this in mind. no they are at big loss and they cant get jobs that they want immediately and moving back is a big decision for people with families

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