One of the conditions for the 30% rule is that an employee must have lived in the Netherlands for more than 16 months at a distance of more than 150 kilometers from the Dutch border in the 24 months preceding the first working day.
There are a few situations that can be exempted from the 150 km requirement.
The 30% rule was granted to the employee in the past
If an employee comes to work (or returns) in the Netherlands and previously received (or could have received) the 30% rule, the employee may potentially lose the 30% rule if he has lived outside the Netherlands for less than 16 months until his return. To avoid disqualification upon return to the Netherlands, exemption from the 150 km requirement is granted for a new or renewed Dutch employment/assignment provided that:
Prior to a previous Dutch employment, the employee lived outside the said 150 km radius for more than 2/3rd of the 24-month period, and this previous employment did not commence earlier than 5 years before the effective date of the new Dutch employment.
Depending on the specific facts and circumstances, the previously obtained 30% rule (with the same employer) may still apply and thus no new application needs to be filed. In that case, however, the time spent abroad during which the employee did not actually benefit from the 30% rule is lost (e.g., because he was liable to tax abroad) (i.e., the duration of the 30% rule is not extended).
The employee has been promoted
PhDs in the Netherlands, who lived outside the aforementioned 150 km radius prior to promotion, may also be eligible for the 30% rule. It is important to note that the period during which they lived within the 150-km radius is not taken into account in determining whether they were recruited from abroad. Please note that this is only applicable if the doctoral students start working in Dutch employment within one year of obtaining their doctorate.
University doctoral graduates must, in principle, meet the salary standard unless they go to work in scientific research or teaching at a designated research institution or work as a physician-in-training at a designated training institution. The salary standard depends on their age (under 30 or not).
