Zelfstandigenaftrek 2026: What the Cut Means for ZZP'ers

The zelfstandigenaftrek — the Dutch self-employed deduction — is €1,200 for tax year 2026, down from €2,470 in 2025. That is the largest single-year cut in a phase-down that has been running since 2020, and it is scheduled to drop once more to €900 in 2027. For a DAFT ZZP'er, the real-world cost of the 2026 cut alone lands somewhere between €520 and €615 in additional tax per year, depending on where your profit falls. Not catastrophic. But it moves in one direction, every year, and the number you budgeted with when you first ran your DAFT math is no longer the number.

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Here is the arithmetic, the schedule, and what to do about it.

What Is the Zelfstandigenaftrek?

The zelfstandigenaftrek is a flat deduction that Dutch sole proprietors subtract from business profit before income tax is calculated. It exists to acknowledge that self-employed people carry risks employees don't — no paid sick leave, no employer pension contribution, no unemployment insurance.

To claim it, you have to clear the urencriterium: at least 1,225 hours spent on your business during the calendar year. That works out to roughly 24 hours a week across a full year, and it includes non-billable work — admin, marketing, invoicing, the afternoon you spent on hold with the Belastingdienst.

The catch is that the Dutch government has been shrinking the deduction on a published schedule for years. It is not a surprise, and it is not a policy reversal. It is a slow, legislated glide path — which is oddly reassuring, because it means you can plan around it.

How Much Has the Zelfstandigenaftrek Been Cut?

The 2026 amount is set in the Belastingplan 2026 (Staatsblad 2025, 444). The €900 figure for 2027 is the legislated endpoint of the phase-down — it is on the books, not a proposal.

Between 2022 and 2026, the deduction lost €5,110 of its value. If you first researched the DAFT visa in 2022 and moved in 2025, the tax shelter you read about is roughly 80 percent gone.

What Does the 2026 Cut Actually Cost You?

Here is where most coverage gets it wrong. The deduction fell by €1,270, but you do not lose €1,270 in cash. The deduction reduces taxable profit, so its value to you is whatever tax you would have paid on that €1,270 — and the MKB-winstvrijstelling (the SME profit exemption, 12.7% in 2026) shields part of it before tax is even calculated.

Losing €1,270 of deduction adds €1,270 × (1 − 0.127) = €1,108.69 to your taxable income.

What that costs depends on where you land. These figures hold every 2026 rule constant and change only the deduction, so you're seeing the effect of the cut in isolation:

Two things stand out.

First, the bite is bigger than the headline rate. At €60,000 of profit, that €1,108.69 of extra taxable income costs you €416 in income tax — but also €71 in lost algemene heffingskorting, €72 in lost arbeidskorting, and €54 in extra Zvw contribution. Both Dutch tax credits phase out as income rises, so extra taxable income doesn't just get taxed, it quietly shrinks your credits at the same time. The effective marginal cost in that band is around 55 percent.

Second, the number stops growing. The €90,000 earner pays the same €613 as the €60,000 earner. The deduction is a flat amount, so its loss is a flat cost — which means it hurts proportionally more at €40,000 than at €90,000. Anyone telling you this is a tax hike on high earners has it backwards.

The honest reframe: €613 a year is real money, and it's also about what a single US specialist visit costs before your deductible resets. The Dutch system takes more of your income and hands back a healthcare system where the annual out-of-pocket maximum — the eigen risico — is €385 for the entire year. The trade isn't hidden. It's just made in a different currency than the one you're used to counting.

What About the Startersaftrek?

For 2026 the startersaftrek is €2,123, unchanged. You can claim it in three of your first five years as an entrepreneur, on top of the zelfstandigenaftrek, provided you meet the same 1,225-hour criterion. For a new DAFT ZZP'er, that is the single most valuable deduction on the table right now — worth more than double the zelfstandigenaftrek it sits beside.

It may not survive. On April 20, 2026, the cabinet informed the Tweede Kamer of a plan to abolish the startersaftrek from 2027. The wording in the government's own announcement is unambiguous — the deduction "wordt per 2027 afgeschaft" — and no transitional rule for existing claimants was mentioned.

Its legal status today is: proposed, nothing more. The vehicle for a change like this is the Belastingplan 2027, which is introduced on Prinsjesdag in mid-September 2026 and debated through the autumn. As of early September 2026 no bill has been submitted, nothing has been voted on, and nothing is in force. Treat it as a planning assumption with a real chance of changing, not a done deal — and check where it landed after the autumn parliamentary season before you build a budget on either answer.

The 2026 Numbers You Need

Everything below is the tax year 2026 position, verified against the Belastingdienst:

One wrinkle worth knowing if you're a higher earner: the tariefsaanpassing aftrekposten caps the tax benefit of the zelfstandigenaftrek and MKB-winstvrijstelling at 37.56% in 2026. If your marginal rate is 49.50%, your deductions are only worth 37.56% to you. Below that, the cap does nothing.

How to Budget for This Going Forward

The useful mental model is not "my taxes went up." It is "assume less tax shelter every year, and plan on the trend, not the snapshot."

Practically:

• Run your DAFT income math on the 2027 numbers, not 2026. If your business works at €900 of zelfstandigenaftrek and no startersaftrek, it works. If it only works with today's deductions, you've built on a floor that is scheduled to move.
• Set aside more than last year's percentage. If you were reserving 30% of profit for tax, the credit taper described above means your effective marginal rate in the €45,000–€78,000 band is higher than your average rate suggests. Reserve against the marginal rate, not the average.
• Track your hours from January. The 1,225-hour criterion is the gate on both remaining deductions. A simple time log costs you nothing and is the difference between claiming €3,323 and claiming nothing.
• Don't forget the other Dutch tax. Income tax is Box 1. Your savings and investments sit in Box 3, which taxes a deemed return on worldwide assets — including US brokerage accounts. Our guide to Box 3 for Americans covers what that costs and what's exempt.
• Get a Dutch accountant early. You need one for your DAFT paperwork anyway — the IND wants an opening balance sheet from an accountant with a BECON number. The same person can tell you in October whether your provisional assessment is going to bite in April.

The full cost picture for the visa itself, including the €4,500 business capital and the IND and KvK fees, is in our breakdown of what the DAFT visa actually costs in 2026. If you haven't yet chosen a structure, the ZZP versus BV decision is the one that's hardest to reverse — and it's worth reading with the 2026 deduction figures above in hand, because the ZZP side of that comparison is thinner than it was two years ago.

The part nobody puts in a tax table: a ZZP'er in the Netherlands can decide, in October, to work four days a week. Not negotiate it. Not justify it. Just invoice for four days. Your kid's school runs from 8:30 to 15:00 and they will cycle there alone by the time they're eight. The deduction shrinking by €613 a year is the price of admission to a system where that sentence is unremarkable.

Wondering whether the DAFT is the right pathway for your situation? Take the free assessment → — it takes about five minutes, and nobody's going to email you 47 times afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the zelfstandigenaftrek for 2026?

The zelfstandigenaftrek for tax year 2026 is €1,200, down from €2,470 in 2025. It is scheduled to fall again to €900 in 2027. The 2026 amount was set in the Belastingplan 2026 (Staatsblad 2025, 444). To claim it you must meet the urencriterium of at least 1,225 hours worked in your business during the calendar year.

How much extra tax will the 2026 zelfstandigenaftrek cut cost me?

Holding all other 2026 rules constant, the cut adds roughly €520 in tax at €40,000 of annual profit and roughly €613 at €60,000 or €90,000. The cost is higher than the headline tax rate suggests because extra taxable income also reduces the algemene heffingskorting and arbeidskorting, which both taper as income rises. Your own figure will depend on your full tax position — this is arithmetic, not tax advice.

Is the startersaftrek being abolished?

The cabinet announced a plan on April 20, 2026 to abolish the startersaftrek from 2027, with no transitional rule mentioned. As of September 2026 this is a proposal only — it has not been introduced as a bill, voted on, or brought into force. The Belastingplan 2027 is the vehicle that would carry it, and that is introduced in mid-September 2026 and debated through the autumn. For tax year 2026 the startersaftrek remains €2,123.

Does the zelfstandigenaftrek cut affect my DAFT visa eligibility?

No. The DAFT visa requires €4,500 in business capital maintained in a Dutch business bank account, US citizenship, and a registered business — none of which are affected by income tax deductions. The zelfstandigenaftrek affects what you keep after tax, not whether you qualify. That said, at renewal the IND looks at whether your business is genuinely active and generating income, so your post-tax reality matters to your planning even though it isn't a permit criterion.

Should I set up a BV instead to avoid this?

That is a question for a Dutch tax advisor with your actual numbers in front of them, and the answer turns mostly on whether you can access the 30% ruling — which requires an employment relationship a ZZP structure can't create. A BV also costs meaningfully more to run every year. The shrinking zelfstandigenaftrek nudges the break-even point, but on its own it is not close to large enough to flip the decision for most people.

Disclaimer: This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or immigration advice. The worked figures above are illustrative arithmetic based on published 2026 rates, not a calculation of your liability. Dutch tax rules change annually — always consult a Dutch tax advisor and verify current figures with the Belastingdienst before making decisions. Last verified: September 5, 2026.