Misleading question 30% ruling

PwC: Misleading question over incoming employees
According to PwC, companies what use the online 30%-ruling application form from the Belastingdienst are being misled. “There is a misleading question regarding the home address of the (incoming) employee, and whether or not they live a minimum distance of 150 km from the Dutch border,” the PwC.

The legal rule is that employees who have not lived 150km outside the Dutch border for at least a period of two-thirds of 24 months (thus 16 months) do not qualify as an incoming employee for employment in the Netherlands. This means that the employee is not eligible for the 30%-ruling for incoming employees.

Two-thirds of the last 24 months
In question 4a (does the employee live a minimum distance of 150km from the Dutch border in the 24 months before their first work day?) no mention is made of the 16 month period. PwC: “The question implies that an employee must live the full 24 months at an address 150km from the Dutch border, because if one indicates ‘no’ as their answer, the application indicates that the employee is not eligible for the 30%-ruling. In question 4b it is asked which period the employee has lived at this address, but applicants only come to this question if they give ‘yes’ as their answer to question 4a.”

Practical advice
PwC: “If you are using this form we encourage you to continue filling in the form beyond question 4a.
In any eventual evaluation of the application form by the Belastingdienst this point will be included an perhaps adapted in future application forms.