Tuition fee tax refund

belastingaangifte studiekosten

If you have finished your study and started working it is certainly worthwhile to check if your tuition fees are tax deductible. In principle your tuition fees of studying in The Netherlands are still tax deductible from your income. However this tax deduction facility is abolished from 2022. Contact us to find out if we can claim tax back for you for 2021 till five years back.

Read some example situations of the tuition fee tax refund.

Requirements for tuition fee tax deduction

There are some requirements though for the tax deductibility of study costs. The main conditions are:

You are not entitled to student grants;
You therefore do not have a DUO loan, grant or public transport subscription;
The study or training is for your (future) profession and is a learning path (you gain knowledge under supervision or supervision). An integration course does not meet the conditions;
The study fees have been paid after you registered as a resident tax payer in The Netherlands;
You paid for the study fees personally e.g. by taking out a loan.

You may only deduct the necessary costs. Think of tuition, course or examination fees, educational resources that you must have for the course, such as books or certain software. Not deductible are: costs of a laptop, tablet or printer, travel expenses, interest on a student loan, the design of your study room.

Do you have a tax partner? Then you may also deduct his or her study costs. Do you have 1 or more studying children? You may not deduct these study costs.

Tuition fees tax deductable when you start working

As a student your income will generally be low, if any, and consequently the deduction will have no effect. However when you take up employment after your study the tax loss that has accrued can often be compensated and lead to refunds. It is important that the costs of your study are paid by yourself and actually in the period that you were resident in The Netherlands. Please remember to take advice before you take any action as timing and detail are important; although you might for example not earn any income, you will have to file the annual income tax return to secure the tax deduction.

PhD students or graduates

PhD students or graduates qualify for the advantageous 30% ruling after graduating under certain conditions. To qualify for the 30% ruling you need to have come from abroad before the start of your study. Our specialized tax advisors are able to advise you how to combine the advantages of the 30% ruling with the study costs deduction. Please contact us as early as possible, preferably before you accept any job offer to ensure no opportunities are missed.

The averaging ruling often provides another tax saving opportunity for those starting to earn an income. With this ruling the income over three years can be averaged, thus avoiding the higher tax rates.

Exmple situations tuition fee tax refund

You studied in Nl and afterward got a job here. Can you claim a tuition fee tax refund?

You studied at the University of Nijmegen from 2017 till May 2021. Afterward, you started working in the NL till now. You want to know if you can get a tax refund for your study costs.

If you paid for study fees yourself after you took up residence in NL this may indeed be tax-deductible. The fees would result in a tax loss that can be carried forward to 2021. If you have worked during your study this should also be included in the tax return. If you send us your documents like the amounts of the study fees, invoices, and proof of payment we are happy to file your tax return.

You studied in the Netherlands and started a Ph.D. You never filed tax returns before and want to know about a tuition fee tax refund.

You are a Canadian living in the Netherlands. You started your Master's study at the TU Delft in 2019 and graduated in December 2021. During your study, you made tuition payments every month from the Dutch bank account. You did an internship in 2021 for a couple of months for compensation. You have started a Ph.D. position in September 2021 in the Netherlands. You have never received an invitation to file a Dutch tax return and never filed one. You have learned that you are eligible to file a tuition tax return and would like to know how to file tax returns for the previous years.

We can submit 2019, 2020, and 2021 tax returns taking into account your tuition fee. It is important that these fees were paid by yourself and after you became a resident taxpayer. You may have to outline the source of the funds to the tax office. Please break down the fee in the year of payment. In addition please supply the annual salary statement of all of your jobs and internships. If your net wealth is more than € 30.000 we will also need information about that.

Your parents have paid for your first years and you are wondering if a loan agreement would make you eligible for a tuition fee tax refund.

You are in your first year at the University of Amsterdam and would like to prepare yourself for the tuition tax return in advance. Your parents transferred money directly to pay for your tuition fees. You have read something about that in that case you are not eligible for a tuition fee tax refund. You want to know if you could solve this by preparing certain documents like a loan agreement.

If you are planning to deduct the study fee against tax one of the requirements is indeed that you paid for the study fees yourself. A loan agreement would make clear that the study fee reduced your capital so you should indeed arrange a loan agreement with an interest percentage and repayment scheme and keep to the scheme.

You need help in claiming tax back for two years of study and are now employed as PDEng.

You came to the Netherlands in September 2018 to study at TU Eindhoven. You paid a non-EU tuition fee for 2 years. After 2 years you graduated in September 2020 and you were employed as a PDEng trainee at TU Eindhoven in March 2021. You would like to ask help for claiming some of the tuition fee that you paid.

If you paid for study fees yourself after you took up residence in NL this may indeed be tax deductible. The fees would result in a tax loss that can be carried forward to 2020/2021. If you had income in the period since immigration in 2018 this would also be relevant. If you provide us with details as to your income (annual salary statement 2020 and 2021) as well as confirmation when you registered (received BSN) and when exactly the study fee installments were paid, we can advise you the best as possible.

Untaxing Taxes!

Other relevant pages:

Example situations tuition fee tax refund
30% ruling Netherlands
Expat tax advice
M form Netherlands
Tax return Netherlands
Wealth tax

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