No hours test. No minimum income. If the Belastingdienst recognizes you as an entrepreneur for income tax purposes, 12.7% of your profit disappears from your taxable income automatically. That is the MKB-winstvrijstelling.
Unlike the zelfstandigenaftrek (which requires 1,225 hours and is being eliminated), the MKB-winstvrijstelling survives in 2026. It is a major tax advantage for Dutch income-tax entrepreneurs, and it applies to everyone from full-time freelancers to part-time side-hustlers.
How it is calculated
The exemption applies AFTER other entrepreneur deductions:
- Start with gross business profit
- Subtract zelfstandigenaftrek (€1,200 in 2026, if eligible)
- Subtract startersaftrek (€2,123, if eligible)
- Apply MKB-winstvrijstelling: remaining profit × 12.7% = exempt amount
- Tax is calculated on the remaining 87.3%
Jasper's real example
Jasper runs an e-commerce side business (800 hours/year: fails the 1,225 hour test). His profit: €25,000.
- Zelfstandigenaftrek: €0 (does not meet hours criterion)
- MKB-winstvrijstelling: €25,000 × 12.7% = €3,175 exempt
- Taxable profit: €21,825
- Simple tax effect (at the 2026 maximum benefit rate of 37.56%): about €1,193 before other interactions
Even without the hours test, the illustrative deduction could reduce Jasper’s tax by about €1,193 if he is an income-tax entrepreneur and can use it fully; a business side hustle alone does not establish that status.
The phase-down threat
The MKB-winstvrijstelling has been slowly reduced:
- 2019: 14%
- 2023: 14% (unchanged)
- 2024: 13.31%
- 2026: 12.7%
The government has signaled further reductions but no elimination timeline. It remains the most durable ZZP tax advantage: with no confirmed end date for the regular zelfstandigenaftrek.
Belastingdienst’s 2026 explanation says the 12.7% is applied to profit after entrepreneur deductions and that the tax advantage is capped at a 37.56% rate. A deduction of €3,175 therefore has a simple upper tax effect of €1,192.53 before other return interactions.
