What is my actual return?

By actual return ('werkelijk rendement'), we mean the real income you earn from your assets. This includes the change in value of your assets. For example: interest on your savings, dividends from your shares, or an increase in the value of your shares, 2nd house, or cryptocurrencies.

This page explains how you can calculate your actual return.

We calculate using the most beneficial return for you

You pay tax on the return on your assets in Box 3. Until now, we have always worked with fixed percentages that are close to the actual return rates. This is called the notional return ('fictief rendement').

However, based on rulings of the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad), we must tax your actual return if it is lower than the notional return.

Until new legislation comes into effect for Box 3 (likely from 1 January 2028), we will continue to use the notional return, unless your actual return is lower. This is part of the rebuttal scheme ('Wet tegenbewijsregeling box 3').

You will never pay more tax than we previously calculated.

What counts as your actual return?

To calculate your actual return, we look at all income from your assets and all changes in value of your assets during 1 calendar year. Assets refer to your possessions, including your debts (only available in Dutch).

Your actual return includes:

• Income you received
  For example, interest on your savings account or dividends from your shares.
• Increases or decreases in the value of your possessions
  For example, an increase in the value of your 2nd home. Or the rise in value of your cryptocurrencies or shares. These amounts can also be negative. For example, if the value of your cryptocurrencies or shares is lower at the end of the year than at the beginning.
• The addition for private use use of a 2nd house
  Do you have a 2nd house that you use yourself? From 2026 onwards, we will add an extra amount to your actual return. We call this 'bijtelling eigen gebruik' (addition for private use). We calculate the addition as follows: we multiply 5.06% of the WOZ value on January 1 by the number of days you spend in the house per year. This means you must keep track of how many days you spend in your 2nd house each year, even if you rent out part of your 2nd house.

Example

In 2026, you spend 120 days in your holiday house in Zeeland. The WOZ value of your 2nd house is €237,000. 5.06% of the WOZ value is €11,992.
The 'bijtelling eigen gebruik' (addition for private use) is: €11,992 x the number of days spent there per year (120/365) = €3,942.

We calculate the actual return on your total assets

With the notional return, part of your assets are always exempt. This is called the tax-free allowance ('heffingsvrij vermogen'). But for the actual return, there is no allowance. This has been decided by the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad). So we calculate the actual return on your total assets, without taking the tax-free allowance into account.

If you have a gain on 1 part of your assets and a loss on another, we off-set them against each other. If your total actual return is negative, your return is set to €0. You may not off-set a negative return from 1 year against a return from another year.

Did your assets change during the year?

To calculate the notional return, we only look at your assets and debts on 1 January (the reference date). What happens after that date is not included in the calculation of the notional return.

But for the actual return, we do include changes that happen during the tax year. For example: if you bought investments on 15 April 2024, the return on those investments is part of your actual return for 2024.

You may not deduct costs you incurred

When you report your actual return, you may not deduct any costs you incurred. For example:

• costs for buying or selling shares
• maintenance costs for your 2nd home

There are two exceptions:

• Did you invest in your 2nd home? And did this increase the WOZ value (WOZ-waarde) of your home?
  Then you may deduct that part of the increase from the WOZ value at the end of the year.
  You may only do this if you reported the investment to your municipality.
• Did you pay interest on a debt in Box 3? Then you may deduct that interest.

How can you report your actual return?

How you can report your actual return depends on the year.

From 2025, you can report your actual return in your income tax return. Do you have assets? In that case, we will automaticaly ask if you also want to report your actual return. If you choose to do so, we will use the most beneficial amount: the notional return (fictief rendement) or the actual return (werkelijk rendement).

For 2024 or earlier years, use the form Opgaaf werkelijk rendement (Report Actual Return). Find out where you can access the form.

How is the actual return calculated?

We use your details to calculate your actual return for you. You will also be able to tell right away if the actual return is lower than the notional return.

Calculation examples

Would you like to know how the actual return is calculated? Take a look at our calculation examples for the most common situations. In these examples, we compare the actual return with the notional return.