8 mei 2024 om 06:27 Update: 43 min. geleden
If you have had a fluctuating income in recent years, you may be able to partially get your tax money back with the averaging scheme. This is the last year you can use it. What does the scheme entail and how does it work?
If you use the averaging scheme, you calculate the average income of the past three years. You then pay tax on the average amount. Self-employed people, starters and, for example, people who have worked less in recent years, often receive money back if they use the scheme.
This is how it works: if you have earned more in previous years, you may fall into a higher income tax scale. That was unfair. That is why the averaging scheme allows you to retroactively take the average income of three consecutive years and pay tax on it.
The averaging scheme will be abolished in 2023. The government wants to simplify the tax system and the scheme was not effective enough. That is why 2024 is the last year for which you can use the scheme.
Calculate yourself first
You must first calculate yourself whether you will get money back with the averaging scheme. According to a spokesperson for the Tax Authorities, you can use the Tax Authorities’ step-by-step plan for this. But there are also plenty of tools on the internet that can help you calculate this easily.
Please note that the averaging scheme has a threshold of 545 euros. “Only if you get more money back than that amount can you actually get money back,” the spokesperson says.
You can apply for the averaging scheme via the Tax Authorities’ website. This is possible from the moment the tax return is final until three years later, the spokesperson said. Because the scheme has now been abolished, the period 2022, 2023 and 2024 is the last for which you can apply for averaging.
