How a Dutch tax resident reports foreign property: box 3 as other assets, treaty relief, the 2025 Supreme Court ruling, 2026 figures, foreign rent and the planned 2028 change.
A person who is resident in the Netherlands is taxed there on worldwide income and assets. For a private person with a flat or house abroad, the main Dutch regime is box 3, the tax on savings and investments. This area is moving: the way box 3 works has been changed several times, courts have ruled on foreign property, and a new system based on actual return is planned for 2028. This article states what we could confirm and marks what we could not. The sources are professional and tax-adviser sites, because the official pages we tried either did not open or were summaries; check the Belastingdienst (belastingdienst.nl) before you file.
How foreign property is treated in box 3
A foreign vacation or investment apartment that is not used in a business is, according to the sources, classed in box 3 as other assets (overige bezittingen), wherever it is. You report its market value on the reference date, in the tax return, and any mortgage on it as a debt. Box 3 does not tax your actual rent or price gains in the way an ordinary income tax would. It taxes a deemed return on the assets, with the deemed percentage set each year.
For tax year 2025, the transitional (bridging) law used 5.88 percent for other assets and 2.70 percent for debts, according to a bank's guidance. For 2026, one professional body reports a final deemed return of 6.00 percent for other assets, provisional percentages of 1.28 percent for bank and savings balances and 2.70 percent for debts, a rate of 36 percent, and a tax-free allowance of EUR 59,357 per person (EUR 118,714 for fiscal partners). Because the bank and debt percentages were described as provisional, verify the final figures on the official page. The figures are reported by one site and were not confirmed on the Belastingdienst page.
Treaty relief: why box 3 on foreign property is usually reduced
The country where the property stands normally has the right to tax it and its income, and the Netherlands avoids double taxation by a proportional exemption (aftrek ter voorkoming van dubbele belasting). In simple terms, the Dutch box 3 tax is reduced by the part of the deemed return attributable to the foreign property. The detailed formula uses the deemed return of the foreign property, divided by your total deemed return, and applied to the box 3 tax. What relief you receive depends on the treaty with the country concerned; for the general logic see our article on double tax treaties.
The 2025 Supreme Court ruling
On 18 July 2025 the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2025:1176) decided, as reported by several adviser sites, that the return on foreign real estate is left out when you prove that your actual return is lower than the deemed one, in line with its 2024 rulings. The reasoning reported is that, because box 3 uses a flat rate, treaties must lead in effect to an exemption. For a property that you use yourself, it is reported that this keeps the property effectively outside box 3 in that situation. We could not open the court text, so read it with your adviser. It is also reported that the courts have identified open points on how the proof is built and on rented foreign property.
Foreign rent
Rent from a foreign property is taxed in the country where the property is, under its own rules and rates. In the Dutch return, we could not confirm how rent from a foreign property is treated in practice under the current system, and one adviser commentary says the way treaty relief works for let property is unclear. Do not assume that foreign rent is simply ignored in the Netherlands: keep the foreign assessment, leases and proof of payment, and ask an adviser how to report it.
Selling
A gain on selling a foreign property is taxed by the country of the property under its rules, and the Dutch position depends on the treaty. Under the flat-rate box 3, the Dutch tax is based on the deemed return, not on the gain, but we have not verified how a sale is reported in a given year, so confirm this with an adviser before selling.
What changes from 2028
A Dutch bill (Wet werkelijk rendement box 3) plans to move box 3 to an actual-return system from 2028. We did not verify the final status of the law, and the sources we read do not say how foreign real estate will be treated in the new system. Treat this as an open point and ask again before 2028.
Deadlines
For tax year 2025, the return was due by 1 May 2026, and a request for postponement before that date moved the deadline to 1 September 2026, with possible interest, according to the Belastingdienst summary we found. For later years, check the current date on the Belastingdienst page.
FAQ
Is my foreign apartment taxed in box 3? According to the sources, it counts as other assets in box 3 and is reported at market value, but treaty relief reduces the Dutch tax on it. The size of the reduction depends on the treaty and your total assets.
Do I report the foreign property if I think it is exempt? Yes, you report it and the relief is calculated in the return. Do not omit it.
Does the 2025 Supreme Court ruling mean I owe nothing? Not automatically. It deals with the counter-evidence route (actual return lower than deemed) and with how the foreign property is treated there. It does not decide your whole position, especially for rented property.
Are the 2026 percentages final? One source reports the 6.00 percent as final and the bank and debt percentages as provisional. Check the Belastingdienst page.
Will box 3 change? A move to actual return is planned for 2028; the treatment of foreign real estate in that system is unclear.
How we help
We are a trilingual platform that finds properties and coordinates independent local lawyers and tax advisers, including a Dutch adviser for your return. This text is informational and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Dutch box 3 is changing, so verify the current rules with the Belastingdienst or an adviser. See our country pages, the calculators and, for moves between countries, tax residency when relocating.