Dutch and German salaries are difficult to compare. There are differences in withheld taxes and social security contributions. The actual net income also depends on other factors, such as the deduction of mortgage interest, child supplement and the health insurance supplement (zorgtoeslag).
Example of a payslip
Below is an example of a payslip:
In this example (2021) a gross salary of € 2,500 is assumed.
For the employee in this example, no contributions are paid for a company pension. In most cases, these are probably withheld, but this depends on the collective agreement.
Wage withholding
The most important deduction is the ‘loonheffing’ (income tax). This includes taxes and social security contributions (NL: premie volksverzekeringen). In the above payslip you will see an income tax item of € 435.33. This includes the following components:
- Loonbelasting(income tax): € 149.85 (for non-residents of the Netherlands)
- Premie WLZ (Care Act): € 103.02
- Premie AOW/ANW (legal old-age pension and survivor’s pension): € 192.63
Health insurance
The employee’s contribution to health insurance is not deducted from the wage. The employee pays this amount (between € 85 and € 140 per month) to his Dutch health insurance company himself.
The employee in the example has a maximum of € 1969.50 (€ 2054.50 – € 85.-) freely available per month.
Holiday pay
The employee is legally entitled to 8% holiday pay, which is usually paid in May. In this example, if the employee has worked for a whole year, from May to May, he will receive a gross holiday pay of € 2,400. The net holiday pay is approximately € 1,250.
Calculate for yourself
There are several websites where you can calculate your own salary. You indicate your gross salary, in some cases in which industry you work and which CAO applies to you. Also state that you do not live in the Netherlands.