Netherlands lower house passes 7% transfer-tax rate for investment housing

The House passed Bill 37 022, Tax Plan 2027, by 76 votes to 74. The bill has moved to the Senate, whose Finance Committee is due to consider procedure on 17 November; the measure is therefore not yet enacted.^[1][2]

The proposed housing rate

Article XXI(A) would amend the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act by replacing 8% with 7% in Article 14(2) and (7). The category covers acquisitions of a dwelling or rights over it and specified acquisitions of shares or membership rights that relate directly or indirectly to a dwelling.^[3]

The government describes the rate as applying where the buyer will not use the dwelling as its own principal residence, including rental and holiday properties. The statutory change does not rewrite the separate owner-occupier rate or exemptions; it changes the rate for acquisitions already within Article 14(2). Corporate and institutional purchasers can fall within the measure, but each transaction must still be classified under the existing rules.^[3][4]

Transaction modelling

If enacted in the present form, the one-percentage-point reduction would lower acquisition tax on relevant transactions completing from 1 January 2027. A €10 million acquisition wholly within the housing category would, before exemptions or allocation issues, carry €700,000 rather than €800,000 of transfer tax. Groups should separate qualifying housing from non-housing assets and test direct or indirect acquisition, mixed-use allocation, exemptions and owner-occupier treatment.^[3][4]

The lower-house vote is a material legislative milestone, not final law. Real-estate teams should model the proposed rate for transactions expected to complete in 2027 while retaining an 8% contingency until the Senate votes and the enacted text is published. This focused update is not a whole-package review of Tax Plan 2027.^[1][2][3][4]