Payroll for non-Dutch Employers

A Dutch employer must withhold payroll taxes from an employee's wage (wage tax and the national insurance contributions), bear the cost of some payroll taxes (the employed person’s insurance contributions) and withhold or bear the cost of some payroll taxes (the income-dependent contribution for the Health Care Insurance Act or Zvw). Bear in mind:

• Wage tax is withheld by an employer, when an employee must pay income tax in the Netherlands and the employer is obliged to act as a withholding agent. Tax conventions determine whether an employee must pay income tax in the Netherlands. Dutch legislation determines whether an employer is obliged to act as a withholding agent.
  
  
• An employer withholds national insurance contributions when an employee falls under the social security insurance schemes in the Netherlands and the employer is obliged to act as a withholding agent. Social security regulations, conventions, or national legislation determine whether an employee falls under the social security insurance schemes of the Netherlands. Dutch legislation determines whether an employer is obliged to act as a withholding agent.
  
  
• An employer is required to bear the cost of the employed person’s insurance contributions and the employer's contribution for Health Care Insurance (Zvw), and to withhold the employee contribution for the Zvw from the employee's wages. This is governed by only one criterion, that the employee falls under the social security insurance schemes of the Netherlands. Social security regulations, conventions, or national legislation determine whether this is the case.