Dutch elections: diverging views on innovation tax incentives

On 29 October 2025, Dutch voters will elect a new House of Representatives, after which coalition negotiations will begin to form the next government. Political parties are entering this election with programmes shaped by a landscape of complexity and urgency, ranging from climate action and housing shortages to migration and international security dilemmas. At the same time, substantial financial commitments - already pledged or anticipated - are placing mounting pressure on the national budget.

Unsurprisingly, (the increase of) taxation features prominently in many party programmes. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), most parties foresee an increased tax burden for Dutch businesses. A key question from an innovation perspective is whether - and to what extent - existing innovation tax incentives will be (adversely) impacted. This blog outlines the positions of various political parties on two cornerstone innovation incentives: the Dutch innovation box and the R&D wage tax credit.

The Dutch innovation box

The Dutch innovation box regime allows qualifying income from self-developed intangible assets to be effectively taxed at a reduced effective tax rate of 9% (instead of the regular corporate income tax rates of 19%-25.8% in 2025). To apply the preferential regime, taxpayers must have developed one or more intangible assets as a result of research and development (R&D) activities for which R&D statements have been obtained. Complementary legal tickets (e.g. patents) may be required in addition to the R&D statements depending on the qualification of small and medium-sized (SME) taxpayers and non-SME taxpayers.

A closer look at the political party programmes reveals diverging views on the Dutch innovation box regime:

  • Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD), Nieuw Sociaal Contract (NSC), Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA) and BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) propose to maintain the current regime, with BBB exploring further expansion of tax incentives related to innovation.
  • Democraten 66 (D66) stands out as the only party seeking to increase the attractiveness of the regime by lowering the effective tax rate to 6%.
  • Volt Nederland (Volt) aims to increase the effective tax rate to 14%.
  • JA21 advocates for a complete abolition of the innovation box.

R&D wage tax credit

The R&D wage tax credit is a tax incentive for (employment) costs and expenses directly related to R&D-activities. Companies that have obtained a so-called R&D statement (S&O-verklaring), are allowed to pay less wage tax to the Dutch tax authorities and thereby effectively receive a rebate on part of their employment costs. This provides an immediate cash-flow benefit for innovative businesses. An R&D statement is only granted for specific R&D-activities. The R&D rebate amounts to 36% (or 50% for start-ups) of the R&D (employment) cost base up to € 380,000. For the surplus amount, the rebate amounts to 16% of the R&D (employment) cost base.

While some parties do not address the innovation box directly, they do propose changes to the R&D wage tax credit:

  • CDA and BBB aim to maintain the R&D wage tax credit, with BBB once again exploring possible further expansion of tax incentives related to innovation.
  • VVD, GroenLinks-PvdA, NSC, D66, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP), ChristenUnie (CU) and Volt propose to further incentivize and increase the annual budget for the R&D wage tax credit.
  • CU suggests raising the R&D (employment) cost base to € 500,000, while Volt proposes to extend the R&D wage tax credit to open-source software development.
  • JA21 is the only party proposing to abolish the R&D wage tax credit (replacing it with direct deductibility of R&D-related business expenses).

Trends and outlook

In conclusion:

  1. almost all political parties aim to maintain or increase the annual budget for the R&D wage tax credit.
  2. most parties commenting on the innovation box favour maintaining the current regime and its effective tax rate of 9%.

Given that only a few (smaller) political parties propose increasing the effective tax rate or abolishing the regime, it seems likely that the innovation box will remain in place and probably at the current effective tax rate of 9%.

However, the real test lies ahead: the coalition that emerges from the elections will face difficult decisions in balancing fiscal responsibility with innovation policy. The future of these innovation tax measures will depend on the outcome of coalition talks following the elections.

Contact

Should you require any assistance in applying these tax incentives, or would you like to discuss how potential political developments may impact your business, please contact your trusted adviser.