Developments surrounding the 30% facility

Salary standard in 2026 under the Senior Executives in the Public and Semi-Public Sector (Standards for Remuneration) Act (WNT)

The Senior Executives in the Public and Semi-Public Sector (Standards for Remuneration) Act (hereafter: WNT) sets the remuneration and severance pay of senior officials in the public and semi-public sectors. The set remuneration amounts are annually indexed.  The general remuneration maximum for 2025 is €246,000. The general remuneration ceiling for 2026 has already been announced and is: €262,000. This is an increase of 6.3%.

Since 1 January 2024 the 30% facility has been capped with the maximum tax-free allowance calculated at 30% of the WNT standard. The increase in the WNT standard therefore is also relevant for employees outside the public and semi-public sectors who make use of the 30% facility. 

Employees whose 30% facility was applied no later than in the last wage period of 2022 are covered by the transition arrangements and this set standard does not have to be taken into account in 2025. However, the transition arrangements will no longer apply from 2026 and the maximum amount of the tax-free 30% allowance will apply to everyone. 

30% facility in German-Dutch situations 

The German Federal Court of Finance (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) has ruled that Germany may not levy tax on the tax-free part of the salary that is paid via the Dutch 30% facility. We have published an Alert on this which you can find here. 

House of Representatives has given its approval for the 30% facility to be cut back.

In a very brief motion the House of Representatives approved the proposal to tighten up the 30% facility so that the proposal to shorten the duration of unemployment benefits could be withdrawn. It is unclear at the moment whether this motion will be implemented and if so, what this tightening-up will look like.