There is a lot to do about assets in box 3: you should pay attention to this when filing a tax return | Money

If you have a lot of money in your savings account, you may have to pay taxes on it. This also applies if you have invested in shares or crypto, for example. All your assets are taxed in box 3 on the income tax return. “This year is a special year for box 3,” says Tjarko Denekamp, ​​estate planning expert at ABN Amro MeesPierson.

There is a lot to do about box 3. The Tax and Customs Administration assumed a certain return that you would make on your assets. You pay tax in box 3 on the basis of that return. But in recent years, the return used by the Tax and Customs Administration turned out to be much higher than the return that the Dutch made on savings or investments.

“Some even had a negative return,” says Marjan Heemskerk, accountant and blogger of The Happy Financial. “There has even been a court case and it has been determined that this arrangement is unfair.”

That is why we are now dealing with a transition year. “There are now two calculations for box 3,” says Denekamp. “According to the old and the new system. The most favorable outcome of these two calculations will apply to you. You don’t have to calculate this yourself, the Tax and Customs Administration does that for you.”

For the 2022 tax year, a tax-free allowance of EUR 50,650 applies (for tax partners this is EUR 101,300). This means that if your assets are lower than this amount on 1 January 2022, you do not have to pay tax on your assets.

“This is about your assets minus your debts,” says Heemskerk. A return is determined on the part above the tax-free allowance. And you ultimately pay 31 percent tax on that return.”

Denekamp: ,,If you have more than 31,747 euros in assets, you must already declare this when completing your income tax. Often certain things, such as the assets in your savings accounts, have already been entered in advance. But you also have to enter the value of your share portfolio, your cryptocurrency or, for example, a second home. So also check whether any pre-filled information from the Tax and Customs Administration is correct.”

The so-called notional return over 2022 is therefore calculated in different ways. “The old system works with power disks,” says Denekamp. ,,So the percentage depends on how much power you have. The new system calculates with different percentages for different types of assets. This means that savers will probably be better off with the new system and investors with the old system.”

In recent years, some Dutch people have objected to the calculations of the Tax and Customs Administration. “We are currently in a transitional phase,” says Heemskerk. “We are working on it a better system for calculating your return from 2026. You should actually calculate with everyone’s actual return. But that’s so complicated. Then people would have to supply stuff themselves. That is difficult for people and the systems of the Tax and Customs Administration will probably collapse as well.”

Denekamp: “Hence this temporary solution, but there are also doubts about whether the new system of 2022 is correct. Especially since 2022 was not a good year for investors. Everyone has learned from the 2017-2020 period: object if you think it is incorrect. Otherwise you fish behind the net. I do not exclude that some new objections may follow. Just ask yourself if the importance is big enough to put effort into this. Do you think it’s worth it when it comes to a few tenners, for example?”

Do you want to stay informed about useful tips for managing your money and get inspired how others manage their finances? Then follow us Facebook and Twitter!