Changes to inheritance tax rules

From 2026, a major change in the rules for inheritance tax (erfbelasting) will come into force in the Netherlands.

📌 The main change is that the deadline for filing a tax return will be increased from 8 to 20 months.

What does this mean in practice?

✅ Heirs will have almost 2,5 times more time to collect documents and sort out the numbers.
✅ And you'll have to pay taxes later, too—this gives you room for calm planning.
✅ This is especially useful in situations where part of the inheritance is "stuck" in real estate or other assets that cannot be quickly converted into cash.

🧾 Interest for late payments will begin to accrue not after 8 months, but only after 20 months.
This means there is enough time to sort everything out without rushing or incurring unnecessary costs.

⚖️ This is just one of several changes to inheritance and gift taxes. In future publications, we'll cover other innovations that will take effect in 2026.

Publication date: 23.09.2025/XNUMX/XNUMX