€70,000 of business profit becomes €60,062.40 before Box 1 tax
Noor is a Dutch sole trader with €85,000 revenue and €15,000 deductible business costs in 2026. Her profit before entrepreneur deductions is €70,000. If the Belastingdienst treats her as an income-tax entrepreneur and she meets the hours test, the 2026 zelfstandigenaftrek is €1,200. The 12.7% MKB-winstvrijstelling then applies to the €68,800 remaining profit, removing €8,737.60. Her taxable business profit in this deliberately simple example is €60,062.40 before other Box 1 income, tax credits and personal deductions.
The previous version mixed correct self-employed figures with a stale 6.57% employer Zvw rate and presented a single “take-home” result without enough inputs. In 2026 the employer levy is 6.10%; a self-assessed Zvw contribution is 4.85%. They are different payments with different payers, so replacing one rate with the other in a net-pay formula is also wrong.
| Step in Noor's business-profit example | Amount |
|---|---|
| Invoices collected, excluding VAT | €85,000.00 |
| Deductible business expenses | −€15,000.00 |
| Profit before entrepreneur deductions | €70,000.00 |
| Zelfstandigenaftrek, if eligible | −€1,200.00 |
| MKB exemption: 12.7% × €68,800 | −€8,737.60 |
| Taxable business profit | €60,062.40 |
Noor’s 2026 business-profit bridge
Registration and the 1,225 hours are different tests
A KVK registration alone does not settle whether work is treated as a business for income tax. The Belastingdienst considers the actual relationship with clients and whether you operate as an entrepreneur. The zelfstandigenaftrek then has a separate hours criterion: at least 1,225 hours in the calendar year and, for many established entrepreneurs, more time on the business than on other work. A starter who was not an entrepreneur in one of the previous five years can be exempt from the second part, but still needs 1,225 hours. The required hours are not prorated when starting midyear.
Track client work, administration, proposals and other business activity contemporaneously. If you start on July 1, the same 1,225-hour threshold applies for that calendar year; claiming six-twelfths of it would be wrong. The 2026 Belastingdienst entrepreneur guidance states the rule and the €1,200 deduction. A qualifying starter can have an additional startersaftrek, but eligibility depends on past use of the zelfstandigenaftrek and other conditions. Noor's table assumes she is not taking that extra starter deduction.
The MKB-winstvrijstelling has a different trigger. It can apply to an income-tax entrepreneur even without the 1,225 hours. That does not mean every person with freelance receipts receives it: income classed as wages or other work is a different case. In a loss year, the MKB exemption can reduce the tax loss, which is not an immediate benefit.
Zvw is a separate assessment
For 2026, the Belastingdienst lists a 4.85% Zvw contribution for income assessed on the individual, including relevant business income, and a 6.10% employer levy on qualifying wages. The maximum contribution income is €79,409. The employee's gross salary, entrepreneur profit and other income can interact with this annual ceiling. Do not add 4.85% to an employer's 6.10% levy as though one worker pays both on the same euro.
| 2026 Zvw item | Rate or limit |
|---|---|
| Contribution via assessment, relevant self-employed income | 4.85% |
| Employer levy on qualifying wages | 6.10% |
| Maximum annual contribution income | €79,409 |
Two different 2026 Zvw rates
For a person who also has a job, the Belastingdienst gives an instructive example: €40,000 of wages on which the employer pays the levy, plus €50,000 of other Zvw-relevant income, leaves only €39,409 of the second income below the €79,409 cap. At 4.85%, that second slice would be about €1,911.34. The rate is easy; finding the correct contribution base and prior employer-paid amount is the hard part. This is why Noor's Box 1 profit table does not pretend to be a complete Zvw assessment.
A 37.56% deduction cap is a tax-effect limit
The 2026 37.56% figure does not replace the €1,200 zelfstandigenaftrek or the 12.7% MKB exemption. It limits the tax benefit of specified deductions for people whose Box 1 income before deductions is above €78,426. A high-income freelancer cannot simply multiply a deduction by the top 49.50% rate and call that the refund. The Belastingdienst calculates the adjustment in the return.
VAT is another account entirely. An invoice may include VAT collected for the tax office, but VAT is not business profit in the €85,000 example above. Keep revenue excluding VAT and deductible costs in the income-tax ledger, then handle VAT filings according to the business's VAT status. This prevents a tax estimate that counts VAT collected as spendable salary.
Check the 2026 return before relying on a net-pay headline
Noor should reconcile invoices and expenses, verify entrepreneur status, document her hours and record whether she previously claimed starter relief. She can then calculate the business-profit deductions, add any salary or other Box 1 income, account for credits and estimate Zvw using the applicable contribution base and cap. A spouse, mortgage deduction or prior provisional assessment can all change the final payment. The Belastingdienst 2026 MKB page and Zvw rate page give the figures to check against an assessment.
If the tax office later finds that a client relationship was employment, entrepreneur deductions and VAT treatment may need correction. The real value of a “ZZP tax guide” is to show where its clean example stops, so readers do not mistake a single net-pay number for their legal tax bill.
