Box 3 Asset Categories: Savings, Investments, and Debts

Key Takeaways

Box 3 assets are divided into three categories: savings (low deemed return), investments (high deemed return), and debts (reduce your taxable base).
The category determines how much deemed return is applied — this is the single biggest factor in your Box 3 tax bill.
Savings have a much lower deemed return (1.03%) than investments (6.04%), so how your assets are classified directly affects your tax.
The deemed return percentages are set retroactively based on actual market averages.
Moving assets between categories (e.g., selling stocks and putting money in savings) changes your deemed return.

Category A: Savings (Spaargeld)

Deemed return: 1.03% (2024)

This is the lowest deemed return category. "Savings" means money held in bank accounts, regardless of whether you call it a savings account or a current account.

What Counts as Savings?

Current accounts (betaalrekeningen) — your everyday bank account balance
Savings accounts (spaarrekeningen) — including high-yield savings
Term deposits (deposito's) — fixed-term savings locked for a period
Foreign bank accounts — in any currency, converted to euros at the January 1st exchange rate
Cash in a safe deposit box (technically reportable, though enforcement is limited)

What Does NOT Count as Savings?

Money market funds — classified as investments, not savings
Bonds — classified as investments
Peer-to-peer lending balances — classified as investments (these are loans you have given)
Crypto stablecoins — classified as investments, even though they track currency values

Good to know

The distinction between savings and investments matters enormously. €100,000 in a savings account generates a deemed return of €1,030 (tax: €371). The same €100,000 in an investment account generates a deemed return of €6,040 (tax: €2,174). That is nearly 6 times more tax for the same amount of money.

How the Savings Rate Is Set

The savings deemed return is based on the average interest rate on savings accounts in the Netherlands during the tax year. This is published by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). Since the rate reflects actual average savings yields, it tends to be quite low — but it did rise from 0.01% in 2022 to 1.03% in 2024 as ECB interest rates increased.

Year	Savings Deemed Return
2021	0.03%
2022	0.01%
2023	0.92%
2024	1.03%

Category B: Investments (Overige Bezittingen)

Deemed return: 6.04% (2024)

This is the catch-all category for everything that is not savings or debts. It carries the highest deemed return and is therefore the most expensive from a tax perspective.

What Counts as Investments?

Stocks (aandelen) — individual shares, whether Dutch or foreign
Bonds (obligaties) — government and corporate bonds
ETFs and index funds (beleggingsfondsen) — including accumulating funds
Mutual funds — actively managed funds
Cryptocurrency — Bitcoin, Ethereum, altcoins, stablecoins, NFTs (yes, all of them)
Second homes (tweede woning) — valued at WOZ value or market value
Rental property (verhuurde woning) — valued at WOZ value, with possible discount for occupied rental
Foreign real estate — market value, minus any mortgage (reported as a debt)
Loans you have given to others (vorderingen) — money owed to you
Cars, boats, caravans above a certain value (if not used primarily for personal transport — generally not reported in practice for personal-use items)
Money market funds — despite behaving like savings
Options, warrants, futures — market value on January 1st
Claims on insurance policies (certain types)
Precious metals held as investment (gold bars, silver coins)
Art and collectibles — paintings, antiques, wine collections (unless loaned to a qualifying museum)

How the Investment Rate Is Set

The investment deemed return is based on a long-term average of returns across different asset classes (stocks, bonds, real estate). The government uses a multi-year rolling average to smooth out year-to-year volatility.

This rate has been controversial because it often does not reflect actual individual returns — particularly in down markets.

Year	Investment Deemed Return
2021	5.69%
2022	5.53%
2023	6.17%
2024	6.04%

Category C: Debts (Schulden)

Deemed return: 2.47% (2024)

Debts reduce your Box 3 taxable base, but only the portion above the debt threshold (drempelwaarde schulden).

Debt Threshold

Year	Per Person	Tax Partners
2024	€3,400	€6,800
2025	€3,600	€7,200
2026	€3,700	€7,400

Only debt above this threshold counts. If you are single with €10,000 in qualifying debts, only €6,300 (€10,000 − €3,700) reduces your Box 3 base.

What Counts as a Qualifying Debt?

Personal loans (persoonlijke leningen) — from a bank or private lender
Margin loans on investment accounts
Loans from family or friends (if properly documented)
Student loans — the outstanding balance
Tax debts owed to the Belastingdienst (certain types)
Mortgages on investment property (not your primary home — that mortgage is in Box 1)
Mortgages on foreign property reported in Box 3
Credit card debt — the outstanding balance on January 1st

What Does NOT Count?

Mortgage on your primary home — this is a Box 1 item
Business debts — these belong to your business, not Box 3
Debts below the threshold — the first €3,700 (single) is not deductible

Tip

If you have an investment property with a mortgage, make sure to report the mortgage as a Box 3 debt. This reduces your taxable base significantly. A €200,000 rental property with a €150,000 mortgage means only €50,000 of net property value is in your Box 3 base (plus the debt deduction reduces the deemed return further).

How the Debt Rate Is Set

The debt deemed return is based on average mortgage interest rates in the Netherlands. It is subtracted from your overall deemed return calculation.

How the Categories Interact

The deemed return is a weighted average across your three categories. Here is how asset mix affects the effective rate:

Portfolio Mix	Effective Deemed Return
100% savings	1.03%
75% savings, 25% investments	2.28%
50% savings, 50% investments	3.54%
25% savings, 75% investments	4.79%
100% investments	6.04%

Warning

The category of your assets determines roughly 6x more tax at the investment end compared to the savings end. For large portfolios, this difference can run into thousands of euros. Some people choose to keep more in savings for this reason — even at the cost of lower actual returns.

Reclassification Strategies

Since the savings rate is much lower than the investment rate, some taxpayers consider strategies to shift assets into the savings category:

Selling investments before January 1st and holding cash — this moves assets from the 6.04% category to the 1.03% category
Paying off debts before January 1st — reducing your total Box 3 base

However, these strategies have trade-offs. Selling investments triggers potential capital gains in other jurisdictions (if applicable) and means you are out of the market. See our dedicated article on Box 3 strategies for a full analysis.

Common Mistakes

Classifying money market funds as savings — They are investments, not savings, despite behaving similarly.
Forgetting crypto is an investment — All cryptocurrency is classified as an investment asset with the 6.04% deemed return.
Not reporting debts — Many people forget that qualifying debts reduce their Box 3 base.
Ignoring the debt threshold — The first €3,700 of debt does not count.
Confusing mortgage types — Your primary home mortgage is Box 1. Investment property mortgages are Box 3 debts.