New rules and laws for businesses as of 1 January 2024

As of 1 January 2024, businesses in the Netherlands will have to deal with several new laws and regulations. For example, there will be a legal minimum wage per hour, plastic cutlery and disposable containers will be banned for catering, and the new Environment and Planning Act will go into effect.

Confirmed changes as of 1 January 2024

One place for all permit applications

For entrepreneurs and individuals, the new Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) should make it faster and easier to apply for a permit. Think, for example, of a building or a tree-felling permit. You make one application at one desk and receive one decision. You should also be able to expect a decision sooner: within 8 weeks instead of 26. The single law replaces 26 existing laws and takes effect on 1 January 2024.

Cleaning up litter around your business

From 1 January 2024, your municipality can determine what you must do to keep the area around your business clean. This will allow your municipality to better respond to local problems with litter. The rules will come in an environment plan as part of the new Environment and Planning Act.

Municipalities must come up with new rules by 2032. Until your municipality has announced new rules, you are obliged to clear up litter within a 25-metre radius of your business. This only applies to waste from products you sell. For example, food waste and packaging.

Plastic cutlery and disposable crockery banned

From 1 January 2024, hospitality and catering businesses will no longer be allowed to offer food and drink in disposable cups, with plastic cutlery, or in meal containers made of plastic. If your business cannot do without these, you can apply for an exemption (in Dutch). If you get permission, then, among other things, you must collect 75 to 90% of the packaging for reuse.

Ban on flavoured e-cigarettes

The sale of flavoured e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavour will be banned from 1 January 2024. Earlier, it was already prohibited to produce or purchase those flavours. Retailers will still be allowed to sell their stocks until the end of 2023.

Safety coordinator required in construction

A Safety Coordinator (Veiligheidscoördinator Directe Omgeving) must be present during construction and demolition work. Entrepreneurs in the construction industry are required to do so under the Structures (Living Environment) Decree (Bbl). The coordinator must prevent accidents at the construction site. Part of the new Environment and Planning Act has been incorporated into the Bbl. Both will take effect on 1 January 2024.

Changes to the minimum wage

The legal monthly minimum wage will change to an hourly minimum wage. As a result, the minimum hourly wage will be the same for all workers in 2024. That minimum wage also goes up compared to 2023.

In 2023, the minimum wage is still calculated per month. A worker aged 21 or older working full-time is entitled to a minimum wage of €1,995 each month. The number of hours in a week that are considered full-time work is determined by the terms of the collective labour agreement: 36, 38 or 40 hours. An employee working full-time 40 hours a week will therefore receive a lower minimum wage per hour.

In 2024, the minimum wage per hour will be the same for everyone. The more hours an employee works, the higher the monthly wage is. The minimum wage is also higher. As a result, wage costs for the employer increase.

Expected changes as of 1 January 2024

Before a law takes effect in the Netherlands, it must be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate. The effective date must also be announced. In the case of the laws below, they are expected to take effect on 1 January 2024, but not all of these steps have been completed yet. As soon as more is known about a law, the KVK editors will update it in this text.

Childcare allowed in English, French, or German

Do you work in childcare? Daycare may be offered multilingually. Multilingual daycare may be offered in English, French, or German, next to Dutch (and/or Frisian). You may do so for a maximum of 50% of the time per day.

Fees for objecting to WOZ and bpm lower

Fees for legal aid and damages when objecting to WOZ and bpm are expected to be lower from 1 January 2024. Also, from now on, your municipality and the Tax Administration will pay the litigation fees directly to citizens or companies instead of objection agencies. As a result, fewer legal proceedings will have to be initiated.

Excise duty on alcohol up

Excise duty on beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages is expected to go up by 16.2% on 1 January 2024. A crate of beer will be 0.50 euros more expensive as a result, while the price for a bottle of wine will rise by an average of €0.13.

Tax on non-alcoholic drinks goes up

The consumption tax on non-alcoholic drinks such as soft drinks and fruit juices will rise to €26.13 per 100 litres (hectolitre). From 1 January 2024, this consumption tax is not expected to apply to mineral water and milk.

Travel allowance goes up

If you reimburse the travel expenses of your staff, different rules will apply in 2024. The untaxed travel allowance will increase to €0.23 per kilometre in 2024. That is 2 cents more than in 2023.

In 2023, you may reimburse €0.21 per kilometre tax-free. You do not deduct any payroll tax on this. You can also pay a higher amount per kilometre. But anything above €0.21 is considered wages by the Tax Administration and is not tax-free.

You do not need to pay payroll tax for a public transport card

In 2024, the government wants to make it easier to provide and reimburse your employees for a public transport card. Your employee will then not have to pay payroll tax on its cost. The only condition is that your employee also uses the card for business purposes.

Currently, you must keep records for this. You must prove that the value of the public transport card does not exceed the real business travel costs. On the difference between the higher value and the actual business travel costs, your employee must payroll tax.

Less income tax on money in third-party account

Are you planning to buy company assets? Such as business premises, machinery, or a company car? And do you have a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), general partnership (vof), limited partnership (cv), or professional partnership (maatschap)? If you put money into a third-party account of a notary or law firm for these purchases, this money will now be taxed as bank balance money instead of as an investment.

You will pay less tax in box 3 of your income tax as a result. In your 2023 income tax return, you will pay 0.36% tax on these funds, instead of the 6.17% levied on investments.

SME profit exemption to go down

The SME profit exemption reduces your taxable profit after the entrepreneur allowance. The rate drops from 14% to 12.7% in 2024. Entrepreneurs with high profits will lose the most as a result.

Private business ownership allowance ('zelfstandigenaftrek')

Do you work at least 1,225 hours in your business? Then you are able to use the private business ownership allowance ('zelfstandigenaftrek'). The private business ownership allowance goes down by €1,280 in 2024. The private business ownership allowance will then be €3,750. Over the next few years, the private business ownership allowance will go down further. Eventually to €900 in 2027.

Box 3: Income from savings, investments

Do you have savings or investments? In 2024, you will pay no tax on your assets up to €57,000. Do you have more capital? Then you will pay 34% tax on the return you made on it. The return is the yield, the profit you make on your savings and investments. In 2024, the government calculates a fixed return percentage for investments of 6.04%. The return on savings will be determined later. With retroactive effect to 1 January 2023, money in third-party accounts with a civil-law notary or bailiff will also count as savings. The same applies to homeowners' shares in the assets of a homeowners' association (VvE).

Debts also fall into box 3. The cost of your debts is deducted from the proceeds of your assets. The cost of your debts is charged at a fixed interest rate. There is a fixed amount that you cannot deduct from your debts. This is the debt threshold. The debt threshold and interest rate will be determined later.

Abolition of gift deduction for a bv

From 1 January 2024, you can no longer use the business gift deduction. This means that you can no longer deduct donations to a ‘public benefit organisation’ from your profits. In Dutch, these are known as 'Algemeen Nut Beogende Instellingen' (ANBI) or 'Sociaal Belang Behartigende Instellingen' (SBBI). On the other hand, a non-business gift to an ANBI or SBBI is no longer seen as a hidden profit distribution to the shareholder.

In 2023, you may still deduct a donation to an ANBI or SBBI from the profit. The maximum gift deduction per year is 50% of the profit, up to a maximum of €100,000.

Business succession scheme scaled down and simplified

When inheriting or being given a business, you get tax exemptions if you use the Business Succession Scheme (BOR). The government wants to take the first step towards simplifying and scaling down that scheme in 2024.

Thanks to the BOR, you get tax exemptions on your business assets when you are given or inherit a business. If you have leased immovable property to third parties, it will fall under investment assets by default from next year. As a result, it can no longer fall under the BOR.

The Energy Investment Allowance will be reduced

If you invest in energy-saving and sustainable business assets, you may be eligible for the Energy Investment Allowance (EIA). This allows you to deduct a percentage of the cost of your investment from your profit. As a result, you pay less tax.

The EIA for entrepreneurs will be extended by 5 years, until 2028. However, the percentage you are able to deduct goes down from 45.5% to 40% in 2024. The minimum investment is €2,500, and the maximum investment is €136 million.

The amount you can deduct will go down every year. Do you have a big business investment planned? It may be wise to do this in 2023. That means you can benefit from the deduction of 45.5% of the cost of the investment.

How are laws made?

Sometimes a new law or an amendment is announced, and then does not go ahead, or the effective date is postponed. Why do some announced laws come into effect, while others do not?

Roughly speaking, the legislation process works like this. Ministries and the lower house of parliament ('Tweede Kamer') prepare laws. Once the lower house of parliament has approved a law, it goes to the upper house ('Eerste Kamer'). They can only accept or reject the law. If the upper house accepts the proposal, the government publishes the new law in the 'Staatsblad' (Government Gazette).

The effective date of a law can be mentioned in the law itself. Or the law may state that the government will determine the effective date by Royal Decree (Koninklijk Besluit, KB). The KB is published in the Staatsblad.

As the legislative process consists of many steps, it can take a while before a proposed law enters into effect. Changes in the composition of the lower and upper houses of parliament can also affect the progress. If there is a caretaker cabinet in place ('demissionair cabinet'), it will only handle current affairs and not take any major decisions. 

Business.gov.nl is an initiative of the Ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK).