Before you start

A BSN, so your employer can run payroll
A contract with a Dutch withholding agent, or a KVK registration if self-employed
DigiD, to file and to see your provisional assessments
For the expat scheme: recruitment from abroad, having lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for over 16 of the 24 months before starting, and a taxable salary above the annual norm

Step-by-step

1
Hand the BSN to payroll and let loonheffing run
From your first working day the employer withholds combined wage tax and national insurance premiums and remits them. For a straightforward employee this is close to the final liability, which is why the Dutch system feels lighter-touch than it is.
Via employerWho: Employer runs payroll; you supply BSN and IBANFrom day oneDeducted from gross pay
2
Check the 150 km rule before you count on the expat scheme
You must have lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for over 16 of the 24 months before starting. Nijmegen recruits heavily from just across the German frontier, and Kleve, Emmerich, Duisburg and most of the Ruhr are inside that radius — so a candidate moving from Düsseldorf to Nijmegen typically does not qualify at all, however international the hire feels. This trips up more people here than anywhere else in the country.
OnlineWho: You, before signingBefore accepting an offerFree to check
3
Get the expat scheme filed within four months of your first working day
The employer applies jointly with you to the Belastingdienst, which issues a beschikking. File inside four months and it backdates to your start date; file later and it starts only from the month after approval, permanently losing you those months. Expect roughly eight weeks for a decision. Note that a reduced salary norm applies to people under 30 holding a master's degree, which matters in a city full of postdocs.
Via employerWho: Employer, jointly with youApply within 4 months; decision in ≈8 weeksUsually absorbed by the employer
4
Work out your box 3 position before the 1 January snapshot
Box 3 is assessed on your assets on 1 January. Assumed returns are applied per asset class above the tax-free allowance and the resulting notional income is taxed. If your real return was lower, the tegenbewijs counter-proof route lets you be taxed on the actual figure instead — but you have to claim it and evidence it.
OnlineWho: You, or a belastingadviseurPosition fixed on 1 JanuaryFree to claim; advisor fees vary
5
Understand that your waste bill has a variable half
Gemeente Nijmegen charges afvalstoffenheffing as a fixed base plus a per-offering charge for residual waste — you pay when you use a designated bag or open an underground container. That makes the headline figure low and the actual bill dependent on how you live: a single person who separates properly can pay very little, while a household that throws everything in the residual stream pays a great deal more. Waterschap Rivierenland bills separately for water system and treatment charges. Kwijtschelding, a full remission, exists for low incomes and has to be applied for.
OnlineWho: You, as the registered occupantFixed part assessed early in the year; variable part as you use it≈€400-500 a year for a typical single renter in 2026, but genuinely variable

Documents you’ll need

BSN and DigiD
Jaaropgaaf annual income statement and monthly payslips
Expat scheme beschikking, if granted
1 January statements for every bank and investment account, for box 3
Municipal and water board assessments

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 150 km rule is the single most consequential thing about the expat scheme in a border city.

Eligibility requires having lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for over 16 of the preceding 24 months. Nijmegen is about 20 km from Germany, and the entire Lower Rhine and most of the Ruhr sit well inside the exclusion zone. A researcher moving from Cologne or Düsseldorf to Radboud is an international hire in every sense except the one the Belastingdienst cares about. Establish this before you negotiate a package around a net figure that assumes the ruling.

Source: Belastingdienst; Business.gov.nl

The expat scheme's percentage and its salary norm are moving targets, and almost every published figure is stale.

The reimbursement was 30%, was legislated down in stages, had the steepest version reversed, and now stands at 30% through 2026 with a maximum of 27% from 1 January 2027 plus a raised salary norm for people who entered from 2024 onward. Rulings from before 2024 sit on transitional terms. Anyone quoting a single number without asking when your ruling started is guessing — check the Belastingdienst's current table against your specific start date.

Source: Business.gov.nl; Belastingdienst

The reduced salary norm for under-30 master's holders is what makes the scheme usable on an academic salary.

The general expat-scheme salary norm is well above a starting postdoc package. There is a lower norm for people under 30 who hold a master's degree, and in a city where a large share of international arrivals are exactly that, it is the difference between qualifying and not. It also means the ruling can be lost at a birthday rather than at a job change, which catches people out. Ask payroll to model what happens when you turn 30.

Source: Belastingdienst

Nijmegen's waste levy rewards behaviour, which is unusual for a Dutch city of this size.

Most large municipalities charge a flat afvalstoffenheffing scaled only by household size. Nijmegen charges a low fixed base plus a per-offering charge for residual waste, so the bill responds to how much non-recyclable rubbish you actually put out. A single person separating properly can end up paying a fraction of what a comparable Rotterdam or Groningen resident pays. The corollary is that a shared house with a casual attitude to sorting generates a bill everyone in it argues about.

Source: Gemeente Nijmegen

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming the expat scheme applies when you have moved from anywhere in western Germany — the 150 km rule almost certainly excludes you.
Letting the expat scheme application drift past four months and permanently losing the backdating.
Budgeting on a 30% figure without checking what applies to a ruling that starts in your specific year.
Being caught by box 3 on a 1 January balance after selling a property or receiving a bonus in late December.
Forgetting the first-year M-form, which sits outside the normal online portal and often produces a refund.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.