What is Gebruikelijk Loon (Customary Wage)?
The gebruikelijk loon is the minimum salary a DGA must pay themselves from their own BV. For 2025, the statutory minimum is EUR 56,000 per year. It must equal the highest of this floor, 75% of the most comparable employment, or the salary of the highest-paid employee in the company. Underpaying triggers retrospective wage tax and penalties.
Current Rate (Calendar year; determined at the start of each year)
EUR 56,000 minimum for 2025 (Belastingdienst may set higher for specific roles)
Example
A solo BV founder with no other employees sets their gebruikelijk loon at EUR 56,000. A BV with employees earning EUR 90,000 must pay the DGA at least 75% of EUR 90,000 = EUR 67,500 (above the EUR 56,000 floor), so EUR 67,500 applies.
How Gebruikelijk Loon (Customary Wage) works in Netherlands
The gebruikelijk loon (customary wage) rule is one of the most practically important rules for any Dutch BV owner. It exists to prevent DGAs from avoiding wage tax by paying themselves no salary and extracting profits entirely as dividends at lower Box 2 rates.
**The three-stage calculation**
The DGA's wage must be at least the highest of: 1. EUR 56,000 (the 2025 absolute minimum set by the Belastingdienst) 2. 75% of the salary for the most comparable employment anywhere in the market 3. The salary of the highest-paid ordinary employee in the same company or group
In practice, for most solo-founder BVs with no other employees, rule 1 governs: the DGA simply sets a salary of EUR 56,000. For BVs with higher-paid employees or where the market comparable rate is demonstrably higher, a higher salary is required.
**Demonstrating a lower wage**
If business circumstances genuinely do not support a EUR 56,000 salary (for example, the BV is in its first year, or profit is too low), the DGA can in some cases agree a lower wage with the Belastingdienst in advance. This requires documentation demonstrating why the customary wage cannot be paid. If the BV simply cannot afford it, the DGA may take the lower amount but must make it up if profitability improves.
**Practical payroll mechanics**
The BV runs a payroll (loonheffingen) for the DGA. Monthly payroll declarations must be filed with the Belastingdienst. The wage tax (loonheffing), which includes income tax pre-payment and national insurance (AOW, ANW, WLZ), is withheld and remitted monthly. Unlike regular employees, the DGA is not insured for WW (unemployment) or WIA (incapacity) under the employee insurance schemes.
**Consequence of underpayment**
If the Belastingdienst determines the gebruikelijk loon was set too low, it will: - Raise the deemed wage to the correct level - Demand the additional loonheffing as if the higher salary had been paid - Apply a penalty of up to 100% of the underpaid tax in cases of gross negligence or fraud - Interest charges on overdue amounts
**ZZP comparison**
Self-employed sole traders (ZZP, eenmanszaak, VOF) are not subject to the gebruikelijk loon rule. This is one reason some entrepreneurs remain as ZZP rather than incorporating into a BV, particularly at lower profit levels where the BV tax structure may not offer sufficient advantage to justify the DGA salary obligation.
Related terms
A DGA (Directeur-Grootaandeelhouder) is a company director who holds a substantial interest of at least 5% in that company's shares. Most Dutch BV founders are DGAs. The DGA must receive a customary wage (gebruikelijk loon) from the BV of at least EUR 56,000 per year in 2025, ensuring wage tax is paid before profits are distributed as dividends.
Box 2 is the Dutch income tax category for substantial interest income. It applies when a person holds at least 5% of the shares in a company. Dividends and capital gains from those shares are taxed at 24.5% on the first EUR 67,804 per person and 31% above that (2025). The threshold is per individual, not per company.
A Besloten Vennootschap (BV) is a Dutch private limited company, the most common corporate structure for entrepreneurs, SMEs, and foreign investors setting up in the Netherlands. Since the 2012 Flex-BV law, minimum share capital is EUR 0.01. The BV is a separate legal entity; its shareholders have limited liability. Shares are not publicly tradeable.
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