How we calculate: method and sources
Every step from gross to net, where the figures come from and how sure we are of them.
From gross to taxable pay
We start from your gross monthly salary. Twelve times that, plus holiday allowance (vakantiegeld), any year-end bonus or 13th month and one-off payments, is your gross annual pay.
Your own pension contribution comes off first: the employee share of the premium on the pension base, which is your gross annual pay minus your pension fund’s franchise. A company-car addition (bijtelling) is added. What remains is your taxable pay.
Box 1: the brackets
On your taxable pay we compute box 1 wage and income tax. In 2026 that is 35.75% up to €38,883, 37.56% up to €78,426 and 49.5% above (below state pension age). The employer pays the ZVW health levy; it does not reduce your net pay.
For 2027 we use the figures of the Belastingplan 2027 (first bracket 36.23%). The plan has not been passed yet, so everything for 2027 is marked provisional.
Tax credits and labour tax credit
The general tax credit (in 2026 at most €3,115, phasing out above €29,736) and the labour tax credit (at most €5,685, zero from about €132,920) are deducted from the tax. We assume your employer applies the loonheffingskorting; you can switch that off in the calculator.
We calculate on an annual basis, like income tax. The wage tax your employer withholds each month follows the Belastingdienst tables and can differ by a few euros a month.
Special rate: holiday allowance and year-end bonus
Holiday allowance, a year-end bonus and one-off payments are taxed at the special rate (bijzonder tarief). We compute it with the annual-wage method: the tax on your whole annual pay minus the tax on your regular pay alone, divided by those extra payments.
Net per month is therefore always your regular monthly pay without holiday allowance. Net per year is everything together.
Pension and franchise
Every CAO points to a pension fund. Per fund we hold the franchise (the part of your pay you build no pension on, because the state pension covers it) and a representative employee share of the premium. How the premium is split between employer and employee differs per employer, so you can adjust the percentage in the calculator.
Holiday allowance
By law holiday allowance is at least 8% of your gross annual salary. When you pick a CAO we use that CAO’s percentage, for example 8.33% or 8.5%. Without a CAO we use 8%.
Where the figures come from
Tax rates, tax credits, ZVW and the 30% ruling come from the Belastingdienst; every step in the calculator links to the page that states the figure. The provisional 2027 figures come from the government’s Belastingplan 2027. Where a CAO refers to the statutory minimum wage, we use the amounts of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW).
Salary tables, holiday allowance, year-end bonuses and pay rises are taken from the CAO texts themselves, as employers and unions (FNV, CNV) publish them, and from the AWVN CAO database. Every CAO page links to the source we used.
How we check CAO data
We cover 558 CAOs. 35 of them have been checked by hand against the CAO text. The other 523 are drafts: taken over automatically from the CAO text and passed our checks (rising steps, minimum below maximum, plausible amounts, an existing pension fund), but not yet reviewed by a person.
Every CAO page says which of the two it is. A draft is more likely to carry a transcription error, so compare its amounts with your payslip or the CAO text.
When we update
Tax figures are updated as soon as the Belastingdienst publishes them: after Prinsjesdag and the vote on the Belastingplan, and on 1 January. Until the Belastingplan is passed, the new year’s figures are provisional.
A CAO is updated when there is a new agreement or a new pay table. An announced pay rise that is not yet in a published table is included and marked "announced".
Known limitations
We compute pay from one job or a few income sources, without a partner, benefits (toeslagen), box 3 or deductions such as mortgage interest. What you get back or pay through your income tax return is not included.
Youth wages, irregular-hours and other allowances are usually not in our CAO data. The employee share of the pension premium is an indicative value per fund. The net tables on the CAO pages assume full-time work and the standard loonheffingskorting.
Spotted a mistake?
Does an amount not match your payslip or your CAO? Let us know, with the name of the CAO, the scale and step, and where in the CAO text the right amount is. We check it and correct the data.
Email your report to contact@nettohelder.nl.