Substantial interests
Under Dutch law, income that you acquire from shareholdings of 5% or greater – termed substantial interests – is taxed separately, at a rate of 25%.
Both the regular income, such as dividends, and income from disposing of your shares, for example, are taxed in the Netherlands.
The central factor here is the acquisition price for tax purposes that you paid for the shares. Effectively, this acquisition price is the basis for calculating your taxable income. If you sell your shares, only the income that exceeds the acquisition price will be taxed. If you discontinue (wind up) the company, again only the income that exceeds the acquisition price is subject to 25% income tax.
The acquisition price for tax purposes is calculated (or recalculated) at the moment that you move or return to the Netherlands. The higher the calculation is of the acquisition price for tax purposes when you move to the Netherlands, the less tax you will pay on your income when you sell or otherwise dispose of the shares further down the road: in that case a smaller sum will be subject to 25% tax.
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