Tax deductions for your 2025 tax return

The end of 2025 is approaching, which means it’s time to prepare your paperwork for the 2025 income tax return. Now is the perfect moment to review which expenses are tax-deductible and how you can make the most of available deductions. In this article, we’ll provide a clear overview of all key deductions and offer practical tips to help you use them to your advantage.

Below:

• What are tax deductions?
• Overview of deductible expenses
• How do thresholds work, and what counts toward them?
• Always file a tax return
• Tax partnership
• Deductible expenses for entrepreneurs
• Practical tips & key considerations

What are tax deductions?

A tax deduction is an expense that you can subtract from your taxable income, which reduces the amount of tax you have to pay. For 2025, this means that expenses paid in 2025 are included in the tax return you file in 2026. If you’ve made expenses that qualify for a deduction, you must include them in your annual tax return to the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst). During the filing process, the system automatically calculates whether you are entitled to a tax refund, based on the applicable threshold amount. If you qualify, the Belastingdienst will apply this deduction directly in your tax return.

Overview of deductible expenses

Here’s a list of the most common tax deductions, including the main conditions and additional details. For more detailed information about a specific deduction, simply click on its name.

How do thresholds work, and what counts toward them?

• For specific healthcare expenses, only the amount above your threshold is deductible. This threshold depends on your threshold income (income in boxes 1, 2, and 3 before deductions).

  The threshold amount determines the amount of your healthcare costs that you must pay yourself before you can deduct anything. The amount depends on your threshold income and whether you have a tax partner.

Threshold for specific healthcare expenses 2025 (without a tax partner):

Threshold for specific healthcare expenses 2025 (with a tax partner):

• For charitable donations, a threshold of 1% of your threshold income applies, with a minimum of approximately €60. 
• There is no such threshold if your donation is recurring and is based on a contract with a charity.You cannot deduct expenses that have already been reimbursed, or could have been reimbursed, by an insurance company or your employer.
• You do not need to submit receipts or invoices with your tax return, but the Dutch Tax Administration may request them later. Therefore, keep them for at least 5 years.

Always file a tax return

Even if you pay little or no income tax, it is still advisable to file your tax return online via Mijn Belastingdienst. While completing the return, it may turn out that you are entitled to a reimbursement for specific healthcare expenses. This is calculated automatically in your tax return, ensuring you don’t miss out on any tax benefits.

Tax partnership

Tax partnership means that you can file a joint tax return and allocate income and deductions between you. This can affect the amount of tax you owe or are refunded, as well as the tax credits you are entitled to.

The advantage of filing jointly is that many deductions can be divided between partners, which can sometimes result in a greater tax benefit. On the other hand, it can also have drawbacks: for some deductions, a higher threshold applies depending on the combined income of both partners.

Filing separately may sometimes seem smarter, but it is often not possible. If you are legally required to be each other’s tax partner, the income of both partners is always taken into account when calculating thresholds, even if you choose to file separately.

Deductible expenses for entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, you may deduct expenses incurred for your business (business expenses) from your revenue, provided that these costs are directly related to your business activities and remain within reasonable limits. The Dutch Tax Administration provides examples such as:

• Advice on the viability of the business
• Registration in the trade register
• Rent for business premises
• Letters and other correspondence materials
• Office or workplace furnishings
• Maintenance costs
• Insurance
• Travel expenses using public transport

It is important to distinguish between costs that can be deducted in full in the year they are incurred and costs that must be spread over multiple years (for example, investments or assets with a longer lifespan).

Regarding VAT: if you have paid VAT on business expenses, you can usually reclaim it (input VAT). In that case, the costs are recorded excluding VAT in your profit calculation. If you cannot reclaim the VAT, you may deduct the costs including VAT.

If you use private expenses partly for business purposes, such as a car, phone, or space in your home, you may only deduct the business portion. The Tax Administration may sometimes check whether the ratio between costs and business use is reasonable.

Practical tips & key considerations

• Keep track of your expenses throughout year: save invoices, receipts, bank statements, and notes.
• Check if an expense has already been reimbursed: if you have received a reimbursement, you must deduct that amount from the amount you declare
• Maximize your deductions: some expenses can be used in multiple ways, but you may not deduct them twice.
• Allocate deductions wisely when filing jointly: sometimes it’s more advantageous for one partner to claim a certain deduction while the other claims a different one, depending on your incomes.
• Claim deductions you missed: in many cases, you can still make corrections for up to 5 years.

TaxSavers is here to help

Filing your tax return doesn’t have to be a headache. With TaxSavers, you can be confident that your return is accurate and that you make full use of all available deductions.

Get in touch with us via the contact form or call us at 020-2170120. We make sure your tax return is complete and correct, so you never pay too much or too little tax!