Payroll update September 2026

1. New Employee Information Form for Payroll Taxes
2. Future Pensions Act: don’t wait until 2028
3. Staff party or dinner? Keep the WKR in mind.
4. Looking ahead: Budget Day

New Model Statement of Data for Payroll Taxes

On 24 August, the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration updated the Employee Information Form for Payroll Taxes (“Model opgaaf gegevens voor de loonheffingen”). You can find the new version here.

This form is used, among other things, when a new employee joins your company and provides their personal details and indicates whether the payroll tax credit should be applied.

The main change concerns the questions and explanation regarding the payroll tax credit. These have been clarified to help prevent employees from having the payroll tax credit applied simultaneously by multiple employers or benefit agencies.

Incorrect application can have unpleasant consequences for the employee. The payroll tax credit may only be applied by one employer or benefit agency at a time. If the credit is applied twice, insufficient payroll tax may be withheld during the year, which could result in the employee having to pay additional tax when filing their personal income tax return.

Future Pensions Act: don’t wait until 2028

We recently recently published a separate article in detail, but we would like to bring it to your attention once again: the Future Pensions Act (“Wet toekomst pensioenen” or Wtp). Read our article on the Future Pensions Act and make sure you know where you stand.

The ultimate deadline for the transition to the new pension system is 1 January 2028. However, this does not mean that you, as an employer, can wait until 2028. Pension funds, insurers and Premium Pension Institutions (“PPIs”) each have their own transition schedules, which may mean that you need to take action well before this date.

Have you not yet checked when your pension scheme will be adjusted? Do so now. Contact your pension adviser or pension provider and check what is expected of you as an employer. Our article includes a practical step-by-step guide.

Staff party or dinner? Keep the Work-related costs scheme in mind

A staff party, drinks or dinner together is, of course, mainly about having a good time. For tax purposes, however, location where you organize it can make quite a difference.

Different rules under the Work-related Costs Scheme (“WKR”) apply to facilities provided at the workplace and those provided outside the workplace. For example, the tax treatment of a staff party held at the workplace can be very different from a party organized at an external venue.

The same distinction applies to food and drinks. Coffee, tea and snacks provided at the workplace, for example, may remain outside the discretionary scope, while different rules apply to meals. If you take your employees out for dinner or organize a staff party at an external venue, the costs will generally be charged to the discretionary scope.

And the discretionary scope is not unlimited. In 2026, it amounts to 2% of the first € 400,000 of the total taxable wage sum and 1.18% of the excess. If you exceed the available discretionary scope, you as the employer will be liable for an 80% final levy on the excess.

Are you planning a staff party, dinner, drinks or another activity in the coming months? Keep the WKR in mind and, if in doubt, discuss it with us beforehand.

Would you like to know exactly how the discretionary scope works, which costs do and do not fall within it, and what the main pitfalls are? Read our detailed article on the Work-related Costs Scheme.

Looking ahead: Budget Day

As usual, a number of plans that may affect employers were presented on Budget Day (“Prinsjesdag”).

Not all of these plans are immediately relevant to your payroll administration. In addition, measures announced on Budget Day do not automatically become final legislation. Therefore, rather than overwhelming you with all the proposed changes in this payroll update, we will focus on the developments that are most relevant to you as an employer.

In the upcoming quarter, we will publish separate specials covering the most important topics. We will specifically look at the consequences for employers, employment law and payroll.

This way, you will not only know what is changing, but more importantly, what you need to do about it.