The Knowledge Group seeks legal redress: partial foreign tax liability for the 30% employee

On October 17, 2025, the Dutch Tax Administration (‘DTA’) published the Kennisgroep (‘the Knowledge Group’) position KG:202:2025:21 on the allocation of joint income components to a partial foreign taxpayer.

The position aims to clarify how joint income should be divided between fiscal partners when one partner has the 30% ruling and has opted for a partial foreign tax liability, and the other is subject to domestic tax liability (partial foreign tax liability means that Box II and III income is not included in the tax return in the Netherlands). Thus, by allocating joint income components to the partial foreign taxpayer, the domestically taxable partner could keep Box II and Box III income outside the scope of Dutch income taxation.

We note that, with effect from January 1, 2025, it will no longer be possible to opt for this partial foreign tax liability. This is due to the transitional arrangement that applies until 2026 and the potentially significant financial consequences for those involved. Therefore, this Knowledge Group position is certainly worth discussing.

Content of the Knowledge Group position

The Knowledge Group discusses the situation in which an employee (A) with a 30% ruling, who is married in a full community of property with B, opts for partial foreign tax liability.1 The question in that case is how the joint income components of Box III should be divided between the taxpayer (A) and his partner (B). In the example used by the Knowledge Group, the full community of property as of January 1, 2024, includes income from a substantial interest in a foreign company of €100,000, a bank balance of €800,000, and assets of a child of €100,000.

By opting for treatment as a partial foreign taxpayer, A is taxed for Box II and III in accordance with the rules of Chapter 7 of the Income Tax Act 2001, i.e. foreign tax liability. In the example outlined, this effectively means that A is not taxed in Box II or III. The joint income is entirely attributed to A in the joint tax return of A and B.

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