Competitive Talents with Focus on Innovation
Netherlands Investment Incentives
R&D: The R&D tax credit offers compensation for part of a companies’ R&D wage costs. It amounts to 32% of the first €350,000 of R&D wage and other costs and expenses (40% for start-ups), and 16% of all further R&D costs and expenses. There is no maximum allowance per calendar year.
Green incentives: Tax relief regime for environmentally friendly investments - allows companies to deduct up to 45% of the investment costs for an environmentally friendly investment on top of the regular investment tax deductions or to amortize 75% of the investment costs of a qualifying environmentally friendly investment at once. A list of qualifying environmentally friendly investments is published annually. Further, the Energy Investment Allowance supports investments in new energy-saving equipment.
Other: Special tax regime for expats (30% facility) – an employer is permitted, subject to certain conditions, to give an employee from abroad a tax-free allowance of up to 30% of his gross salary for the extra costs involved during his temporary stay in the country.
Overview: Dutch fiscal and tax policies are important factors of country’s investment attractiveness. Participation exemption (exempts the parent company from paying corporate income tax on benefits from a qualifying shareholding) and the possibility of obtaining an Advance Tax Ruling (ATR) or an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) are attractive features of Dutch tax law and one of the pillars of the Dutch investment climate, partially explaining the high number of European headquarters in the country.
Capital: Amsterdam
Surface area: 41,540 km²
Population: 17.5 mil
Unemployment: 3.5%
Currency: Euro
GDP growth: 4.5%
FDI net inflow (% of GDP) in 2021: -14.0%
Prospective sectors: Life sciences and health, agrifood, IT & Hi-tech, chemicals, energy, finance.
Worth knowing: The Netherlands ranks among the world’s top countries for both economic and talent competitiveness. With a strong focus on innovation, it is among the top 10 exporting countries in the world and is the location of choice for global players as their gateway to Europe (Nike, Netflix, PepsiCo, SABIC, etc.). ASML Holding with HQ in Eindhoven designs and produces the most advanced machines for the microchips industry and is Europe’s most valuable tech company.
