Moving from the Netherlands to Germany

The threshold is lower in Germany, not higher

The Dutch highly skilled migrant criterion is quoted monthly: €5,942 gross for applicants aged 30 and over in 2026. Annualised that is €71,304 — and holiday allowance sits outside it, so the real cost to an employer is higher again.

Germany's EU Blue Card threshold for 2026 is €50,700 a year, or €45,934.20 for shortage occupations and recent graduates. That is a materially lower bar than the Dutch one, which runs against most people's expectation that Germany is the stricter country.

You lose the 30% ruling and get nothing equivalent

The Dutch expat scheme lets an employer pay part of your salary free of tax for up to five years. Germany has no equivalent regime for incoming employees. If the ruling was applied to your Dutch salary, the move ends it — and the comparison you should run is against your Dutch net pay with the exemption, not against your gross.

Tax pulls in opposite directions depending on what you earn

Germany taxes nothing up to €12,348, then rises continuously from 14% to 42%. The Netherlands charges 35.75% inside its first band — income tax plus national insurance — from the first euro, with credits reducing the bill afterwards.

At the top the order reverses: the Dutch top rate of 49.5% starts at €78,426, while Germany reaches 42% at €69,878 and only goes to 45% above €277,825. A high earner faces a lower marginal rate in Germany; someone on a modest salary is likely better off there too, because of the tax-free amount.

Social contributions are charged separately in both countries and are not part of those rates, so treat this as the direction of travel rather than a net-pay calculation.