Box 3 Actual Return: When It's Worth Comparing as an Expat

If your notional Box 3 assessment looks high, you may have heard you can report "actual return" instead and get taxed on whichever figure is lower. True — but it's a comparison you build with evidence, not a box you tick to save money automatically.

This is general information, not personal tax advice. Whether this route helps you depends on your asset mix, your residency for the full year, and — if you arrived, left, or hold a treaty-country connection — facts this guide can't resolve. Confirm with a Dutch tax advisor before filing.

What actual return means

Since the 2025 return, you can report actual return directly in your income tax return instead of relying only on the notional calculation. Per the Belastingdienst, actual return covers income received (interest, dividends) plus increases or decreases in the value of your possessions, with gains and losses offset within the same year.

Two catches:

• Costs generally aren't deductible. Transaction fees and maintenance don't reduce actual return. The two named exceptions are interest paid on Box 3 debts and certain WOZ-value-increasing property investments reported to the municipality.
• You're taxed on whichever is lower. Report actual return, and the Belastingdienst compares it against your notional figure and applies the smaller one. It can't raise your bill — but it also doesn't help if your actual return is the higher number, which happens in strong market years.

For the notional system this compares against — deemed-return percentages, the tax-free allowance — see our Box 3 wealth tax guide. Always check current percentages and the allowance on belastingdienst.nl, since both move most years.

Why expats hit this more often

The notional system assumes a fixed return per wealth category, regardless of what your specific holdings actually did. That gap tends to be widest for expats: a foreign brokerage account with a flat year, a crypto position down since 1 January, a foreign balance earning little local interest. None of that means the comparison favors you — it means it's worth running with real numbers rather than dismissed or assumed.

The evidence checklist

You need documented figures for the full year, not estimates:

• Foreign bank balances at start and end of year, converted to euros at a consistent rate.
• Broker statements, Dutch or foreign, showing dividends, interest, and portfolio value at both dates.
• Crypto valuations at both dates per holding — see our crypto in Box 3 guide for how volatility interacts with this calculation.
• Foreign property values, including the private-use addition applying from 2026 if you use a second home yourself — the Belastingdienst offers a choice between economic rental value or a percentage of WOZ-equivalent value for personal-use days. Complicated for a foreign property; don't estimate this one yourself.
• Box 3 debts and interest paid, since that interest is one of the few deductible costs.

If assembling this for one tax year sounds like more work than the likely saving, that's a legitimate conclusion. Our Box 3 filing walkthrough covers where these figures go either way.

Where this needs bespoke advice

Two situations no general guide can resolve:

• Tax treaty treatment — a treaty can affect which country taxes an asset and how a Dutch actual-return figure should even be calculated alongside it.
• A move year — if you became or stopped being a Dutch resident mid-year, you file an M-form and both calculations prorate in ways that aren't a simple fraction. See our exit checklist for the broader mechanics, but get this specific comparison checked by an advisor.

What this guide isn't telling you

It's not telling you that you'll qualify or save money. It's telling you what the mechanism compares and what you'd need on hand to find out. Run the Box 3 calculator with your notional figures first — if the notional bill is small relative to the evidence-gathering effort, the comparison usually isn't worth doing.

FAQ

Do I choose actual return per asset, or for the whole return?

For the whole of Box 3 — total actual return versus total notional return, not asset by asset. You can't apply actual return only to the assets that did badly.

Does using actual return this year commit me to it next year?

No. It's an annual choice, since valuations reset every 1 January and neither system carries losses or gains between years.

Is a small foreign account worth including?

Include everything if you're doing the comparison at all — leaving an asset out only understates your case. Whether to run the comparison in the first place is a separate, earlier question.

What if I can't get a reliable value for a foreign asset?

Don't guess to simplify the form. An unsupportable valuation causes more trouble on inquiry than sticking with the notional figure for that asset — involve a tax advisor instead.

Is this the same as the 2028 Box 3 reform?

No. Actual-return reporting is available now, as an optional annual comparison. The separate reform discussed for 2028 — reportedly at risk of delay — would replace the notional system as the default going forward. See our 2028 Box 3 reform guide.

Does this touch the 30%-ruling or payroll tax?

No — actual return is a Box 3 mechanism with no link to the 30%-ruling's Box 1 payroll allowance. See our 30%-ruling and savings guide if you want that separate picture.