The Dutch Ministry of Finance has launched a public consultation on four new anti-dividend stripping measures, including a net return test denying tax benefits when net returns fall below 15% of gross dividends and a German-Austrian style 45-day holding requirement with a minimum 70% economic exposure.
The Dutch Ministry of Finance has initiated a public consultation regarding additional measures to prevent dividend stripping on 16 April 2026.
Dividend stripping is a method by which individuals or companies attempt to pay less or no tax on dividends by separating the legal and economic rights to dividends. As of 1 January 2024, several measures have already been taken to further combat dividend stripping. Subsequently, research was conducted into additional measures.
On 27 June 2025, the House of Representatives was informed about this research. Four measures resulted from the research. These four measures have been further elaborated and are now being submitted for consultation.
The first proposal introduces a net yield approach, denying tax credits or refunds if the recipient’s net return is less than 15% of the gross dividend. The second measure, modelled after German and Austrian law, requires shareholders to maintain a minimum economic interest for at least 45 days around the dividend payment date. A third, targeted provision prevents pension funds from claiming exemptions if the dividends arise from business activities unrelated to their core pension investments. Finally, the document seeks to strengthen anti-abuse rules by explicitly accounting for tax-driven transactions coordinated across groups of affiliated entities.
1. Net return approach: The net return approach is the first of four proposed measures introduced by the Dutch Ministry of Finance to further combat dividend stripping. This measure specifically targets the core characteristic of dividend stripping: situations where the economic interest in a dividend does not actually reside with the recipient but remains with another party, typically one in a less favourable tax position.
Under this proposal, the right to a dividend tax settlement, exemption, or refund is denied if the following conditions are met:
The core mechanism and 15% threshold
- The 15% test: Tax benefits are denied if the costs and results associated with a “series of transactions” related to the dividend are higher than 85% of the gross dividend. This effectively means the measure applies when the net return is less than 15% of the gross dividend.
- Series of transactions: This includes costs and results stemming from a combination of transactions, such as purchasing shares while simultaneously entering into a derivative contract to hedge price risk.
- Targeted securities: The measure focuses exclusively on exchange-traded shares (beursaandelen) because dividend stripping almost exclusively occurs with shares traded on regulated markets.
2. German-Austrian model: This measure requires the taxpayer to hold a sufficient economic interest in the shares for a minimum period. Specifically, the taxpayer must have held the shares for at least 45 days (uninterrupted) around the dividend record date. During this period, the taxpayer must be exposed to at least 70% of the potential decrease in the value of the shares. If these conditions are not met, tax credits, refunds, or exemptions for dividend tax are denied.
3. Measure targeted at pension funds: This measure denies dividend tax exemptions or refunds if the dividend is attributable to a business activity other than the investment of collected pension premiums. This targets activities like professional securities trading, arbitrage, or dividend stripping rather than long-term retirement investing.
4. The Group/concern (anti-fragmentation) measures: This measure is designed to explicitly clarify and strengthen existing legislation to prevent taxpayers from hiding dividend stripping schemes by spreading different elements of the transactions across various entities or individuals within the same corporate group.
The primary goal is to ensure that a “series of transactions” (samenstel van transacties) is assessed at the group or concern level rather than solely at the level of the individual taxpayer.
Transactions entered into by a “connected entity” or a “connected natural person” are attributed to the taxpayer or the recipient of the dividend.
Within corporate groups, parties may attempt to split the “consideration” (the cost paid for the dividend) and the “maintenance of the economic position” across different connected parties so that no single entity appears to meet the legal criteria for dividend stripping. This measure makes it explicit that such fragmentation will not prevent the denial of tax benefits.
Key Features across the measures
- Efficiency threshold: To protect small, bona-fide investors, most of these measures include a threshold (proposed between EUR 20,000 and EUR 100,000) below which the rules do not apply.
- Regular business exception: Measures 1 and 2 include an exception for regular business operations to avoid hindering normal market activities, such as those of market makers who continuously buy and sell shares as part of their professional services.
- Burden of proof: Generally, the tax inspector must initially prove that the conditions for dividend stripping are met to apply these measures. However, once the inspector has made this case, the taxpayer may have the burden to prove they qualify for an exception, such as the efficiency threshold or regular business operations.
The consultation is set to conclude on 28 May 2026.
