Prinsjesdag (the Dutch Budget Day) falls on the third Tuesday of September every year. Usually I'm there with a drink in my hand, cheering on the band in the village where I was born. Then the next day, a bit sleepily, I read about everything that was said. Prinsjesdag is still something special. Yesterday I asked who was nervous about it. Hardly any of our Instagram followers were nervous about Prinsjesdag. I was, though: Hugo de Jonge's plans are not going to make the housing market any better. If anything, the problems will get bigger. Little vision and a lot of panic measures. We try to regulate everything, and we end up with fewer homes instead of more.
Contents
- 1. Higher transfer tax for investors
- 2. Inheriting the previous generation's property portfolio on favourable terms is a thing of the past
- 3. Compensation for high energy bills
- 4. Lower VAT on solar panels
- 5. Higher wages
- 6. Building more homes in the Netherlands
- 7. Extra money for making homes more sustainable
- 8. Lower rents and more rent allowance
- 9. Box 3
- 10. Abolishing the jubelton
The investor is the big bogeyman, but we damn well need those investors to get out of the housing crisis. With all the rising costs and massive inflation, we shouldn't regulate, we should stimulate. And by letting everything get more expensive and pumping even more money into the country, everything will become even more expensive and inflation even higher. I find all these changes quite complicated, and in the end they will disrupt the housing market even more.
1. Higher transfer tax for investors
The transfer tax rate was already raised from 2% to 8% on 1 January 2022. In December 2020, this led to a huge buying spree of homes suitable for letting. In early 2022, it was announced that the cabinet wanted to raise transfer tax to 9%. That still wasn't enough for Rutte IV (the fourth Rutte government). They are raising transfer tax for investors to 10.4%.
2. Inheriting the previous generation's property portfolio on favourable terms is a thing of the past
For a long time, a property portfolio could be passed on favourably using the Bedrijfsopvolgingsregeling (BOR) (the business succession scheme), but soon that will no longer be possible. The property was placed in a BV (a private limited company). The business activity of this BV was letting the property. This made it easy to pass on the property portfolio without paying too much transfer tax.
3. Compensation for high energy bills
The cabinet hasn't quite finished working out this measure yet. But an average household will get an energy bill of at most €290 a month. In any case, from 1 January a maximum price will apply to the first 1,200 cubic metres of gas and the first 2,400 kilowatt hours of electricity used. The idea is a maximum price of 1.50 euros per cubic metre of gas and 70 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity. These amounts have not been fixed yet and may still change a bit. The measure should already take effect in the last two months of the year and will apply for the whole of 2023.
This is not just for families, but also for entrepreneurs. It will apply to medium-sized and small businesses.
4. Lower VAT on solar panels
From 2023, the general VAT rate on the supply and installation of solar panels will be reduced from 21% to 0%.
5. Higher wages
The government wants wages to go up. The minimum wage will rise by 10 percent in 2023. The AOW (state pension) and benefits are going up too.
6. Building more homes in the Netherlands
Demand for homes is high, but construction is lagging behind. From 2023, 100 million euros will be set aside every year for ten years for the Woningbouwimpuls (housing construction incentive). This extra money goes to municipalities so they can build new homes faster for many different target groups. In 2022, €250 million already went to this. Almost €11 billion is available for investment in affordable housing. The big question, though, is: if things are made so difficult for investors, will enough homes still be built?
7. Extra money for making homes more sustainable
In 2023 and 2024, the cabinet is setting aside a total of €300 million for the Nationaal Isolatieprogramma (National Insulation Programme). A multi-year programme has been developed to insulate homes better. Thanks to the extra money set aside, households can make their homes more energy-efficient and save on energy costs.
8. Lower rents and more rent allowance
From January 2023, rent allowance will go up by €16.94 a month. The cabinet is setting aside €325 million a year for this. The increase in rent allowance should give low-income households an extra helping hand in these expensive times. Tenants on a low income will get a rent reduction from 1 July 2023. On average, their rent will then go down by €57 a month. The rent reduction applies to tenants in social housing with an income below 120% of the social minimum.
9. Box 3
New calculations are being made for tax in box 3 (the tax on savings and investments). A number of values need to be determined for this:
- Tax base. This is the value of all assets, minus deductible debt and the tax-free allowance of €50,650 for 2022 (€101,300 with a tax partner).
- Return percentage: the calculated return on savings and investments, minus a fixed interest percentage on debts, divided by total assets x 100%. The percentage that remains is the return percentage.
For this calculation, the tax base is multiplied by the return percentage. The resulting amount is the income from assets, on which citizens pay 31% tax. This box 3 rate will be raised by 1% every year, to 34% in 2025. The tax-free allowance will then be about €57,000.
10. Abolishing the jubelton
The cabinet wants to reduce the gift tax exemption for owner-occupied homes (the so-called jubelton) from €106,671 to €28,947 from 1 January 2023. The exemption will be abolished completely from 1 January 2024. But if you give the jubelton now, it can still be used next year. So you can have the transfer scheduled for 5 January, so that you can buy a home of up to €440,000 without transfer tax, and still make use of the jubelton. Want to know exactly how this works? You're always welcome to call or email us.
