{
  "schema_version": "1.2",
  "type": "howto_guide",
  "slug": "file-your-tax-return",
  "canonical_url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return",
  "representations": {
    "html": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return",
    "json": "https://howtoin.nl/content/guides/file-your-tax-return.json",
    "markdown": "https://howtoin.nl/md/file-your-tax-return.md"
  },
  "title": "How to file your tax return in NL",
  "short_title": "file your tax return",
  "summary": "File the Dutch income tax return (aangifte inkomstenbelasting) with the Belastingdienst, and work out which return applies to you: the standard return, the M return for your migration year, or the C return for non-residents.",
  "themes": [
    "Money and taxes",
    "Work"
  ],
  "keywords": [
    "aangifte inkomstenbelasting",
    "dutch income tax return",
    "m formulier",
    "m-aangifte migration year",
    "c formulier non-resident",
    "uitstel aangifte",
    "vooringevulde aangifte",
    "mijn belastingdienst digid",
    "belastingdienst tax refund",
    "fiscaal partner tax return",
    "tax return",
    "income tax return"
  ],
  "audience": "Anyone with Dutch income or assets, including people who arrived or left during the year",
  "last_reviewed": "2026-09-01",
  "estimated_time": "1 to 3 hours to complete a straightforward return. If you file before 1 April the Belastingdienst notifies you before 1 July; for the M return it states you are usually informed within 3 months of filing",
  "intro": "The Dutch income tax return is called the aangifte inkomstenbelasting and is filed with the Belastingdienst (the Tax Administration). It is not true that everyone with Dutch income must file. You must file if the Belastingdienst sent you a tax return letter (aangiftebrief), and you must file without a letter if the completed return shows you have to pay €58 or more (2025). Separately, filing can be worth doing voluntarily when you are due money back, which is common in the year you arrive or leave.",
  "before_you_start": "Check whether a tax return letter (aangiftebrief) arrived, on paper or in your Berichtenbox. The letter states the date your return must be received, which is often 1 May. You need a BSN and, for the online return, a DigiD or a European recognised login (eIDAS). Which return you file depends on whether you lived in the Netherlands for the whole year, part of the year, or not at all, so settle that question before you open anything.",
  "timing": "If you file before 1 April the Belastingdienst notifies you before 1 July. For the M return it states you will usually be informed within 3 months of filing, and it has up to 3 years after the tax year to impose a final assessment, extended by any postponement you were granted. A granted postponement (uitstel) gives 4 months extra to file.",
  "authorities": [
    "belastingdienst",
    "mijnoverheid",
    "netherlands-worldwide"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
      "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
      "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/moet_ik_aangifte_doen",
      "label": "Moet ik aangifte inkomstenbelasting doen?"
    },
    {
      "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
      "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
      "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/en/individuals/content/filing-an-online-tax-return-in-4-steps",
      "label": "Filing an online tax return in 4 steps (English)"
    },
    {
      "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
      "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
      "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/wat-gebeurt-er-als-ik-geen-aangifte-doe-of-te-laat-of-onvolledig",
      "label": "Wat gebeurt er als ik geen aangifte doe? Of te laat of onvolledig?"
    },
    {
      "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
      "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
      "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/hoe-aangifte-inkomstenbelasting-doen",
      "label": "Hoe doe ik aangifte inkomstenbelasting? (including the M-aangifte)"
    },
    {
      "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
      "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
      "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/en/individuals/content/non-resident-taxpayer-how-do-i-file-my-income-tax-return",
      "label": "Non-resident taxpayer: how do I file my income tax return?"
    },
    {
      "authority_id": "mijnoverheid",
      "organisation": "MijnOverheid",
      "url": "https://mijn.overheid.nl/",
      "label": "MijnOverheid and the Berichtenbox, where government post arrives"
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "number": 1,
      "id": "step-1",
      "anchor": "#step-1",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-1",
      "title": "Work out whether you have to file at all",
      "description": "Filing is compulsory if the Belastingdienst sent you a tax return letter (aangiftebrief). Without a letter, you must still file if the completed return shows you have to pay €58 or more for tax year 2025. There is also a refund threshold: for 2025 the Belastingdienst asks you to send the return in if you get €19 or more back, which makes voluntary filing worthwhile in many arrival years. The Belastingdienst publishes these thresholds for each tax year on its page about whether you have to file, so check the page for the year you are filing.",
      "action": "Check your post and your Berichtenbox for a tax return letter, and if there is none, complete a return in Mijn Belastingdienst without sending it, to see which side of the thresholds you fall on.",
      "documents": [
        "Tax return letter (aangiftebrief), if you received one",
        "BSN"
      ],
      "timing": "Under an hour to check, once you have your income figures to hand.",
      "warning": "A separate rule catches people on income-dependent schemes such as allowances (toeslagen) or subsidised legal aid: for 2025, if you, your partner or your minor children hold more than €37,395 in assets (€74,790 with a fiscal partner), you must file even when you are below both the €58 and €19 thresholds.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/moet_ik_aangifte_doen",
        "label": "Moet ik aangifte inkomstenbelasting doen?"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 2,
      "id": "step-2",
      "anchor": "#step-2",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-2",
      "title": "Arrange your DigiD or European login",
      "description": "The online return in Mijn Belastingdienst is opened and signed with DigiD. If you live abroad you can apply for DigiD from outside the Netherlands, or use a European recognised login (eIDAS) issued by your country of residence. Without either, non-residents can ask for the paper form C by telephone, and people filing a migration year can order a paper form M.",
      "action": "Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst with your DigiD to confirm it works, and if you do not have one, start the DigiD application before the filing date approaches.",
      "documents": [
        "BSN",
        "Valid passport or identity card",
        "A mobile phone that can receive text messages",
        "An email address"
      ],
      "timing": "Applying for DigiD from abroad takes several steps, including a video call or a visit to a service desk, so start well ahead of your filing date.",
      "warning": "Do not leave DigiD until the week of the filing date. The collection code is valid for 30 days, and you still need a separate identity check, after which the activation code you receive is valid for 21 days.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "netherlands-worldwide",
        "organisation": "Netherlands Worldwide",
        "url": "https://www.netherlandsworldwide.nl/digid-abroad/how-to-apply",
        "label": "Applying for DigiD from abroad"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 3,
      "id": "step-3",
      "anchor": "#step-3",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-3",
      "title": "Identify which return you need: standard, M or C",
      "description": "If you lived in the Netherlands for the whole tax year you file the standard return. If you moved here or left during the year, you file the migration return, the M-aangifte, which covers a year split between residence and non-residence. If you did not live here at all but had Dutch income, you are a non-resident taxpayer and file the C return. The Belastingdienst does not publish a general filing date for the M return, so use the date printed on your own tax return letter rather than assuming the 1 May date that applies to ordinary returns.",
      "action": "Decide from your registration and deregistration dates which of the three returns covers your tax year, and note that the M return for tax year 2025 opened online on 1 May 2026.",
      "documents": [
        "Dates of registration and deregistration with the municipality (gemeente)"
      ],
      "timing": "The online M return for tax year 2025 could be filed from 1 May 2026. Paper form M 2025 could be ordered from 1 April and was sent out from 1 May.",
      "warning": "For tax year 2022 and earlier the M return can only be filed on paper, so an older migration year cannot be cleared up online.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/hoe-aangifte-inkomstenbelasting-doen",
        "label": "Hoe doe ik aangifte inkomstenbelasting?"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 4,
      "id": "step-4",
      "anchor": "#step-4",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-4",
      "title": "Gather your figures and settle the fiscal partner question",
      "description": "Before opening the return, collect your annual income statements, bank and investment balances, and any mortgage and property details. If you have a fiscal partner (fiscaal partner), you can file together and divide certain shared income and deductions between you, though items such as wages, pensions and business profit cannot be split. Married couples and registered partners are fiscal partners automatically; unmarried people living together qualify only through specific conditions such as a notarial cohabitation contract, a shared child or joint ownership of the home.",
      "action": "Collect your income statements and balances, and check on the Belastingdienst page whether you and the person you live with are fiscal partners for the tax year.",
      "documents": [
        "Annual income statement (jaaropgaaf) from each employer or benefits agency",
        "Bank and investment balances on 1 January of the tax year",
        "Mortgage annual statement and WOZ value",
        "Records of deductible costs"
      ],
      "timing": "Allow an evening to assemble documents if you had more than one employer during the year.",
      "warning": "Fiscal partnership is not a matter of choice for married and registered partners: it applies from the moment you marry or register, and the shared thresholds for deductible costs are then calculated on your joint income rather than yours alone.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontentnl/belastingdienst/prive/relatie_familie_en_gezondheid/relatie/fiscaal_partnerschap/",
        "label": "Wanneer ben ik fiscaal partner?"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 5,
      "id": "step-5",
      "anchor": "#step-5",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-5",
      "title": "Open the return and check the pre-filled data",
      "description": "The online return follows four steps: prepare, open the return, check, and sign. Much of it arrives pre-filled (vooringevulde aangifte) from data the Belastingdienst already holds. You must compare those figures with your own paperwork and correct or add anything that is missing. The Belastingdienst is explicit that where you doubt which figure is right, you enter your own.",
      "action": "Log in to Mijn Belastingdienst, open the return for the relevant tax year, and check every pre-filled figure against your own documents before going further.",
      "documents": [
        "All documents collected in the previous step"
      ],
      "timing": "1 to 3 hours for a straightforward return.",
      "warning": "Pre-filled data cannot be changed or added to in the Aangifte app. If anything needs correcting, you have to switch to the return in Mijn Belastingdienst.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/online-aangifte-doen-in-4-stappen",
        "label": "Online aangifte doen in 4 stappen"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 6,
      "id": "step-6",
      "anchor": "#step-6",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-6",
      "title": "Complete the boxes and understand what goes where",
      "description": "Dutch income tax is divided into three boxes. Box 1 is income from work and home (inkomen uit werk en woning), covering salary, business profit, the owner-occupied home and state pension (AOW). Box 2 is income from a substantial interest (aanmerkelijk belang), which applies when you hold at least 5 percent of the shares or comparable rights in a company. Box 3 is income from savings and investments (sparen en beleggen), covering assets such as savings and a second property.",
      "action": "Work through each box in turn and read the Belastingdienst page on boxes and rates for the tax year you are filing, since rates and thresholds are set per year.",
      "documents": [
        "Savings and investment balances",
        "Shareholding details if you hold 5 percent or more in a company",
        "Property details"
      ],
      "timing": "Longer if you have box 2 or box 3 items, since these need figures at specific dates.",
      "warning": "Box 3 is assessed on the value of your assets on 1 January of the tax year, not on what you hold now, so an account you closed later in that year still belongs in the return.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontentnl/belastingdienst/prive/inkomstenbelasting/heffingskortingen_boxen_tarieven/boxen_en_tarieven/",
        "label": "Boxen en tarieven"
      }
    },
    {
      "number": 7,
      "id": "step-7",
      "anchor": "#step-7",
      "url": "https://howtoin.nl/file-your-tax-return#step-7",
      "title": "Sign and send before the date, or request a postponement",
      "description": "You sign the online return with your DigiD and then send it. If you received a tax-return letter and need more time, request postponement (uitstel) before the filing deadline. During the normal annual filing window you can request it online in Mijn Belastingdienst. If you cannot use Mijn Belastingdienst, you can call the BelastingTelefoon, and a paper postponement form is also available. A standard postponement gives 4 months extra. For the standard 2025 return the 1 May 2026 request deadline has passed; if your tax-return letter gives a later filing date, use that date instead.",
      "action": "Send the return before the date in your tax-return letter. If that date has not passed and you need more time, request postponement online where available, or use the phone or paper route.",
      "documents": [
        "Your BSN and tax-return letter",
        "Postponement form (Aanvraag uitstel aangifte inkomstenbelasting), only if you use the postal route"
      ],
      "timing": "Request postponement before the filing deadline in your tax-return letter. A standard postponement gives 4 months extra. If you received no letter but have to pay €58 or more for 2025, the Belastingdienst asks you to file before 14 July to avoid a fine.",
      "warning": "Do not assume post is the only route. During the normal annual filing window you can request postponement in Mijn Belastingdienst; if you cannot use it, call the BelastingTelefoon, and the paper form remains an option. If you have a tax adviser, contact them because they work to their own arrangement with the Belastingdienst.",
      "source": {
        "authority_id": "belastingdienst",
        "organisation": "Belastingdienst",
        "url": "https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/nl/belastingaangifte/content/",
        "label": "Uitstel aanvragen voor de belastingaangifte"
      }
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    "Your BSN, and your fiscal partner's BSN if you file together",
    "DigiD, or a European recognised login (eIDAS) if you live abroad",
    "Your annual income statement (jaaropgaaf) from each employer or benefits agency",
    "Bank account numbers and the balances of savings and investments on 1 January of the tax year",
    "Your Dutch bank account number for a refund",
    "Mortgage annual statement and the WOZ value of your home, if you own one",
    "Records of deductible items, for example healthcare costs, study costs where they still apply, or donations",
    "Your residence and deregistration dates, if you moved to or from the Netherlands during the year"
  ],
  "costs": [
    {
      "text": "The Belastingdienst publishes no fee for filing your own income tax return, online in Mijn Belastingdienst or on a paper form."
    },
    {
      "text": "Using a tax adviser or a filing service is optional and the adviser sets the fee. Amounts vary and are not set by the Belastingdienst."
    }
  ],
  "deadlines": [
    {
      "headline": "File before the date in your tax return letter, often 1 May",
      "detail": "If you received a tax return letter (aangiftebrief), the Belastingdienst must have your return before the date printed on it, and that date is often 1 May. If you did not receive a letter but the completed return shows you have to pay €58 or more for tax year 2025, the Belastingdienst tells you to file before 14 July and states that otherwise you can get a fine (boete). If you miss the date the Belastingdienst sends a reminder, then a formal demand (aanmaning) giving you 10 working days, and it can impose a late-filing fine and make its own estimate of your income to assess you on."
    }
  ],
  "warnings": [
    {
      "kind": "common_mistake",
      "text": "Assuming that because no tax return letter arrived, no return is needed. If the completed return shows you have to pay €58 or more for 2025, you must file anyway, and the Belastingdienst points to 14 July as the date before which to do it."
    },
    {
      "kind": "common_mistake",
      "text": "Treating the pre-filled return (vooringevulde aangifte) as final. The pre-filled figures are a starting point that you must compare with your own paperwork, and where you doubt them the Belastingdienst tells you to enter your own figures."
    },
    {
      "kind": "common_mistake",
      "text": "Filing the ordinary return in the year you arrived or left. The migration year needs the M return, and for tax year 2025 the online M return only opened on 1 May 2026, so it could not be filed inside the period that ends before 1 May which ordinary tax return letters set."
    },
    {
      "kind": "common_mistake",
      "text": "Using the Aangifte app for a return that needs correcting. Pre-filled data cannot be changed or added to in the app, only in the return in Mijn Belastingdienst."
    },
    {
      "kind": "common_mistake",
      "text": "Leaving a postponement request too late. For the 2025 return the postponement had to be requested by 1 May 2026, and it buys 4 months, not an open-ended extension."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 1,
      "text": "A separate rule catches people on income-dependent schemes such as allowances (toeslagen) or subsidised legal aid: for 2025, if you, your partner or your minor children hold more than €37,395 in assets (€74,790 with a fiscal partner), you must file even when you are below both the €58 and €19 thresholds."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 2,
      "text": "Do not leave DigiD until the week of the filing date. The collection code is valid for 30 days, and you still need a separate identity check, after which the activation code you receive is valid for 21 days."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 3,
      "text": "For tax year 2022 and earlier the M return can only be filed on paper, so an older migration year cannot be cleared up online."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 4,
      "text": "Fiscal partnership is not a matter of choice for married and registered partners: it applies from the moment you marry or register, and the shared thresholds for deductible costs are then calculated on your joint income rather than yours alone."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 5,
      "text": "Pre-filled data cannot be changed or added to in the Aangifte app. If anything needs correcting, you have to switch to the return in Mijn Belastingdienst."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 6,
      "text": "Box 3 is assessed on the value of your assets on 1 January of the tax year, not on what you hold now, so an account you closed later in that year still belongs in the return."
    },
    {
      "kind": "step_warning",
      "step": 7,
      "text": "Do not assume post is the only route. During the normal annual filing window you can request postponement in Mijn Belastingdienst; if you cannot use it, call the BelastingTelefoon, and the paper form remains an option. If you have a tax adviser, contact them because they work to their own arrangement with the Belastingdienst."
    }
  ],
  "conditions": {
    "title": "Which return applies to you?",
    "intro": "The Dutch system uses different return forms depending on where you lived during the tax year and whether you were invited to file.",
    "options": [
      {
        "label": "You lived in the Netherlands for the whole tax year",
        "detail": "You file the standard online return in Mijn Belastingdienst using your DigiD. If you received a tax return letter, the return must arrive before the date in that letter, often 1 May. If you did not receive a letter, you must still file when the completed return shows you have to pay €58 or more (2025 tax year), and the Belastingdienst asks you to do that before 14 July to avoid a fine."
      },
      {
        "label": "You moved to or from the Netherlands during the tax year",
        "detail": "You lived outside the Netherlands for part of the year, so you file the migration return, the M-aangifte, for that year. For tax year 2025 the M return could be filed online in Mijn Belastingdienst from 1 May 2026 using DigiD or a European recognised login, and the paper form M 2025 could be ordered from 1 April and was sent out from 1 May. For tax year 2022 and earlier the M return can only be filed on paper. The Belastingdienst does not publish a general filing date for the M return, so the date that binds you is the one printed on your own tax return letter (aangiftebrief)."
      },
      {
        "label": "You do not live in the Netherlands but have Dutch income",
        "detail": "You are a non-resident taxpayer and file the C return. You can file online in Mijn Belastingdienst with DigiD or a European recognised login from your country of residence. If you are unable or unwilling to file online, you can request the paper form C by calling the Tax information line for non-resident tax issues and giving your BSN."
      },
      {
        "label": "You received no letter and expect a refund",
        "detail": "You are not obliged to file, but it can be worth it. The Belastingdienst states that if you get €19 or more back for tax year 2025 you should send the return in. You can still file up to 5 years after the end of the tax year, so a 2025 return can be filed until 31 December 2030."
      }
    ]
  },
  "next_steps": [
    "Save the confirmation of submission and keep your supporting documents, because the Belastingdienst can ask about them for years afterwards.",
    "Check the provisional or final assessment (aanslag) against your own return when it arrives, and object in writing within the period stated on it if it is wrong.",
    "If you discover an error after sending, file a corrected return through Mijn Belastingdienst rather than leaving it.",
    "If your income changed during the year, review your allowances (toeslagen) with Dienst Toeslagen, since income is the basis for both."
  ],
  "related_guides": [
    "apply-for-the-30-percent-ruling",
    "start-freelancing",
    "start-a-business",
    "get-a-digid"
  ],
  "publisher": {
    "name": "How to in NL",
    "url": "https://howtoin.nl",
    "relationship": "publisher",
    "parent": {
      "name": "Flux Forward",
      "url": "https://fluxforward.world"
    }
  }
}