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What are the reductions for dependants?

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The reductions for dependants lower the withholding tax (bedrijfsvoorheffing / précompte professionnel) deducted every month when you have children or other dependants. In 2026: €52, €138, €367 (monthly reduction in withholding tax for 1, 2 and 3 dependent children (scale applied until 31 October 2026)). In Dutch: vermindering voor kinderen ten laste.

Definition of the reductions for dependants

The amount depends on the number of dependent children, which you declare to your employer; a child with a disability counts as two. Other dependants, such as a parent aged 66 or over, also give a reduction, as does being a single parent.

In the annual tax, these family dependants take the form of an extra tax-free amount: the monthly reduction is only an advance on it.

The key figure in 2026

€52, €138, €367Monthly reduction in withholding tax for 1, 2 and 3 dependent children (scale applied until 31 October 2026)

Source: Calcul du précompte professionnel : annexe III de l’AR/CIR 92 et formule-clé 2026, FPS Finance. Value in force on 1 October 2026.

Worked example

A white-collar worker on €3,000 gross with two dependent children sees their withholding tax fall from €437.87 to €299.87: €138.00 more net pay each month, or €1,656 over the year.

In Dutch: vermindering voor kinderen ten laste

On a Dutch-language payslip (loonbrief), the reductions for dependants are called ‘vermindering voor kinderen ten laste’; on a French-language one (fiche de paie), ‘réductions pour charges de famille’.

Dutch term taken from: CSC/ACV (secondary source).

Not to be confused with…

  • Family allowances: they are paid by a family allowance fund in your Region, regardless of your salary: they do not appear on your payslip.
  • Tax-free amount: the part of your annual income on which you pay no tax: €11,550 for 2026 income.

Calculate it for your situation

What a child changes in your net pay, your tax, your nursery costs and your family allowances.

What if a child arrives?

Related terms

Sources

Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.