Under the main rule, a Dutch DGA’s customary taxable pay in 2026 is at least €58,000 a year. That figure is not a safe default for every company. A higher salary may be required if comparable work pays more; a lower salary needs supporting evidence. Before recommending an amount, I assess what you actually do and your company’s circumstances.
Why the required salary could be €70,000
Suppose you work full time throughout the year in your own bv, a Dutch private limited company. An employee without shares would earn €70,000 in the most comparable role. Your highest-paid employee earns €65,000. Under the main rule, your required salary is €70,000, rather than €58,000. Leaving the €12,000 difference in the company does not remove it from the calculation.
This is the customary salary rule, known in Dutch as gebruikelijk loon. It sets the salary that must be recognised for tax purposes for your work. The starting point is the highest of three figures: pay in the most comparable employment role, the highest employee salary at your company or a connected company, and the annual statutory amount of €58,000. This tax figure can include benefits such as the taxable value of a company car, rather than just the gross salary paid in cash. Companies can be connected through a sufficiently large shareholding relationship. An employee at another company in your group can therefore affect the comparison.
The rule applies when you work for a company in which you have a substantial shareholding, generally at least 5% of the shares. DGA means director and substantial shareholder. Owning shares without doing any work is a different situation. However, managing a company and arranging its administration also count as work, even when the company no longer has any sales.
I look beyond the job title. Are you mainly a specialist delivering the work, managing staff, or both? Calling yourself a director does not establish the right comparison. Equally, an employee doing only the technical work may be a poor match if you also carry commercial and financial responsibility.
Get in touch. I can help you establish the right DGA salary.
What could justify a lower DGA salary?
Evidence that the most comparable role pays less can support a salary below €58,000. A highly paid employee does not automatically rule out a lower salary for you, either. A properly supported comparison with a different, more suitable role can take precedence.
Part-time work needs particular care. Working two days a week does not automatically mean two fifths of €58,000. Suppose a suitable comparable full-time role pays €80,000 and your actual duties take two days a week. A salary of €32,000 may then be defensible. Both the role and the real amount of work matter, rather than just the hours written into an agreement. Management duties and work for other group companies also need to be considered.
A new business may have temporary room for a lower salary. If start-up investment or low cash flow prevents it from paying the customary salary, a reduction may be possible. The normal lower limit is the statutory minimum wage for the hours worked. This concession lasts no more than three years. If the business previously operated as a sole proprietorship, incorporating it does not start a fresh three-year period.
This is separate from the former concession for innovative start-ups. That scheme closed to new cases in 2023, and the transitional arrangement ended in 2025. Being a new business does not by itself entitle you to use the minimum wage in 2026.
One bad year is not enough. A lower salary may be appropriate where losses are so severe that the business’s survival is at risk. An occasional loss, or losses at a company still able to pay its bills, do not meet that test. Nor does a shortage caused by dividends, private withdrawals or a growing amount that you owe the company. I assess the figures alongside the reason for the shortfall. Where business survival is truly at stake, even a salary below the minimum wage may be possible.
If you can show that the customary salary for all your work across your companies is no more than €5,000 a year, and you receive no salary, the company does not have to recognise a notional salary: no tax is charged on salary you have not received. Any salary it does pay remains subject to payroll tax. The €5,000 threshold applies across all the companies concerned, not separately to each bv.
Keeping cash in the company does not settle the salary question
Salary can count for tax purposes even if it has not actually been paid. Setting it too low can therefore lead to additional payroll taxes later. A dividend does not replace the required customary salary, either.
I establish a supportable salary first. Then I can compare the tax consequences of any dividend for both the company and you personally. My tax advice for business owners covers that broader decision.
Carrying forward an old salary also needs care. The former allowance to stay 25% below the pay for the most comparable job was abolished in 2023. The statutory amount was €56,000 in 2024 and 2025, rising to €58,000 in 2026. If an old salary calculation still uses that 25% margin, or your duties have changed, I will reassess it. Where you have an existing agreement with the tax authority, I will check which comparator salary it records.
Want to establish the right DGA salary for your bv? Get in touch with me. Tell me briefly what you do for the bv, how much time it takes and whether you have employees or other companies. I will explain which payroll and financial records I need, discuss the work and cost with you, and establish a defensible salary. If advance discussion with the Dutch tax authority would help, I can handle it.