Tax partners are taxed individually where possible. This means that – in principle – you yourself pay tax on your own income, and you can only utilise your deductible expenditure yourself. However, there also exist some types of joint income and deductible expenditure. You can apportion this joint income and deductible expenditure between yourself and your partner, in accordance with your personal situation.
If you are married or had your partnership recorded in the municipal register of births, deaths and marriages, you automatically qualify as each other's tax partners (except if you live permanently separated from your partner). If you are cohabiting without being married, you should meet the following three conditions in order to be regarded as each other's partners for tax purposes:
The Tax and Customs Administration does not automatically qualify unmarried cohabiting persons as tax partners, but only if they have both opted for this qualification. This application can be made in an Income Tax Return or in a Request for a Provisional Assessment (Verzoek om voorlopige aanslag). Each application concerns one financial year. If you have opted for tax partnership in your tax return, you can reconsider your choice as long as the Tax and Customs Administration can still take this into account in determining the assessment.
If you are a non-resident taxpayer electing to be taxed in the Netherlands in accordance with the rules applicable to residents of the Netherlands, and if you have a tax partner, your tax partner can opt for resident taxpayer status even if he or she has no income in the Netherlands.
If your tax partner opts for resident taxpayer status, you will be able to apportion joint income and deductible expenditure between you. For instance, deductible expenditure of your tax partner's can be allocated to you, which will entitle you to a tax refund in the Netherlands. Furthermore, your tax partner will be entitled to tax credits in that situation. If your tax partner has little or no income of his/her own, he or she may be entitled to a payout of the unutilised part of the tax credit.
Please note:
Wherever this text uses the word 'tax partner', this only refers to the person that is regarded as a tax partner by the Tax and Customs Administration.
With regard to joint income and deductible expenditure, tax partner have a choice: they can decide by mutual arrangement which of them will be taxed for which part. Any allocation is possible, as long as 100% of the income and deductible expenditure is declared in total. This also applies to the assets and liabilities in Box 3.
This means that you can opt for an allocation other than 100% to one tax partner and 0% to the other. For example, 70% of the deductible items relating to the personal allowance(s) can be allocated to one tax partner, and the remaining 30% to the other tax partner.
This choice exists in respect of:
