The Dutch government provides various types of allowances for residents and non-residents of the Netherlands. The benefits system is designed to support people with low incomes, helping them cover basic costs, such as rent, health insurance, childcare, unemployment, maternity pay, etc.

For individuals

• Zorgtoeslag (Health insurance allowance)
• Huurtoeslag (rent allowances)
• WW uitkering (Unemployment wage)
• Bijstandsuitkering (Welfare Benefit or Living Wage)
• Stap budget (Help to pay for Studies)

For families

• Kinderopvangtoeslag (Kindergarten allowance)
• Kindgebonden Budget
• Kinderbijslag (family allowance)

For freelancers

• Stap budget (Help to pay for Studies)
• Zelfstandig in Zwanger (Allowance for self-employed and pregnant women entrepreneurs)

Check the details of the allowances in this link: https://psmconsultancy.nl/2022/07/21/subsidios-en-holanda/

Zorgtoeslag (Health Care allowance)

• The health insurance allowances is an aid to the payment of Dutch health insurance that is made every month. The requirements to apply are as follows: You must be at least 18 years old at the time of submitting the application, you must be paying for Dutch health insurance independently or through the ETT or company you work for in the Netherlands, you can be a resident or non-resident, your annual income must be less than 38,850 euros per year (Allowances applications from 2023), in 2022 this was 31,998 euros per year. If you have a tax partner, the annual salary of both cannot exceed 48,224 euros per year (Applications for an allowance from 2023). In 2022 this was 40,994 euros per year.

The requirements to apply are the following:

• You must be at least 18 years old at the time of applying
• You must be paying for Dutch health insurance independently or through the ETT or company you work for in the Netherlands
• You can be a resident or non-resident
• Your annual income must be less than 31,998 euros per year. If you have a fiscal partner, the annual salary of both cannot exceed 40,994 euros per year.
• medical insurance , only the aforementioned requirements are considered.
• Use your insurance if you need it!, since it will not be an impediment when applying for the allowances.

Huurtoeslag (rent allowances)

The rental allowances is an aid to the rental costs of your home, one of the requirements is that the rent may not exceed 763.47 euros (reference 2022) or 808.06 euros (reference 2023) of rent including services (electricity , water, etc. ). If you are a resident and you are under 23 years of age, you can request the allowances. It can only be applied if the rent does not exceed 442.46 euros, otherwise, it is the amount that was mentioned at the beginning. You must not have very high savings, that is, each resident must have a maximum of 31,747 euros as of January 1, 2022. If you have a allowances partner (person who is registered at your same address) they may jointly have assets of a maximum of 63,494 euros at 1 January 2022.

Other requirements: Have the nationality of an EU country, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland or need a valid residence permit or work permit. You are 18 years of age or older. Independent accommodation for rent.

WW uitkering (Unemployment wage)

If you have been working in the Netherlands for at least 26 of the last 36 weeks and you will soon be unemployed, you may be entitled to unemployment wages. You can request the salary from 1 week before your first day that you are unemployed. During the first 2 months you are unemployed, your gross unemployment wages are 75% of your last salary. After that, your profit is 70%. You are entitled to a minimum wage for unemployment for 3 months or more. The exact duration of your unemployment wages depends on your total work history and when you became unemployed. In general, they give you 1 month of unemployment for each full year of work.

Bijstandsuitkering (Welfare Benefit or Living Wage)

If you are temporarily out of work, you have little money to live in the country and you are not entitled to other benefits, such as unemployment wages, then you can apply for the social assistance benefit.

Stap budget (Help to pay for Studies)

An important change was made in the 2022 income statement, from this year it will not be possible to deduct study expenses in the income statement, so now people who are employees, self-employed or are looking for a job, They can apply for the study allowance. The maximum amount of the allowances is 1000 euros per year. Every 2 months a new application period begins (January, March, May, July, September, November). Grants can be applied for for Dutch language studies, among other studies.

If at any time during the year any of the requirements change, we must inform the allowances department to avoid recalculations of the allowances received. For example your salary is increased, you stopped paying Dutch health insurance, etc.

a. Kinderopvangtoeslag (Daycare allowance)

If your children go to daycare, you may receive a allowances or help with the costs you incur for daycare. It can be applied for if you use a kindergarten ( kinderopvang ) with a registration number (LKR), and you and your partner work (it does not necessarily have to be a stable job) or if you are self-employed or are following an integration course (inburgeringscursus ) or a return to work program ( traject naar werk ) or are following an accredited education course (regular high school, MBO, HBO, University, ROC, Vavo , Ph.D.), volunteer work does not count.

b. Kindgebonden Budget (Child-related Budget)

The budget for children is an aid to the expenses of your children up to the age of 18. This budget also depends on your income as a couple. You must not have a capital greater than 120,020 euros as a single and 151,767 euros as a couple as of January 1, 2022.

c. Kinderbijslag (Family allowance)

The family allowance depends on the age of your child. This amount increases when the child turns 6 and increases again when the child turns 12. The family allowances are transferred at the end of each quarter (January, April, July, and October). For example, as of January 1, 2021, for children from 0 to 5 years old, the amount of 249.31 euros is paid, for children from 6 to 11 years old, the amount of 302.74 euros is paid, for adolescents from 12 to 17 years old, the amount of 356.16 euros is paid.

a. Zelfstandig in Zwanger (Allowance for self-employed and pregnant women entrepreneurs)

If you are self-employed and you are pregnant, you can apply for maternity allowance for at least 16 weeks, the same rules apply for the duration of leave as a regular employee. It can be requested 6 to 4 weeks before the day after the expected delivery date.

b. Studies ( Stap budget )

An important change was made in the 2022 income statement, from this year it will not be possible to deduct study expenses from the income statement, so now people who are employees, self-employed, or are looking for a job, They can apply for the study allowance. The maximum amount of the allowances is 1000 euros. Every 2 months a new application period begins (January, March, May, July, September, and November).

Yes, because not using health insurance during the year does not imply that you cannot request health insurance allowances. You can only apply for the allowances depending on the requirements of each one, for example, annual income, health insurance payment, rent payment, etc.

For example, if in 2022, your income does not exceed 31,988 euros during the year and you also pay for Dutch insurance, whether you are a resident or not, you could apply for health insurance allowances.

After your application for aid or allowances has been approved, if you have any change, for example, in income during the year, increase in your home rent, change in daycare days, change of daycare, one of the parents no longer works, etc the allowances department must be informed immediately to avoid recalculations in the allowances that have been requested.

The opgaaf Wereldinkomen (Worldwide Income Declaration) is a document where you declare your worldwide income, that is, the income you have received inside and outside the Netherlands.

You only receive this form from the Department of Allowances ( Toeslagen ) if you or your partner received an allowance during the time you lived in the Netherlands (the form corresponds to the tax year in which you lived). If you or your partner applied for allowances such as health insurance ( Zorgtoeslag ) or childcare allowances ( Kinderopvangtoeslag ), you can receive such a form. If you have a partner, usually both receive the Wereldinkomen.

People who have lived in the Netherlands can receive the document called Wereldinkomen and one of the common mistakes is to think that this document is related to the income tax, but this is not the case. Sending this document does not mean that you have sent your income statement, but that you are updating your income to the allowances department so that they calculate that the allowances they have sent you are correct. 

If you send this document, you are only updating the income you have had worldwide. This way the Allowances Department ( Toeslagen ) can estimate and verify that the allowances I paid you are correct. If the allowances you received were greater than what you should have received, you will be asked to return part or all of the allowances money, if the allowances you received were less than what you should have received, you will be entitled to a refund of money.

You need to add your worldwide income, this includes your Dutch and non-Dutch income.

If you have calculated your income to be less than your actual income, they will ask you to return part of the allowance money you already received. Otherwise, if you have calculated that your income is less than your actual income, you are entitled to a refund of money.