Tax deductions for freelancers in 2026
Updated on 12 July 2026 · 8 min read
As a freelancer you pay tax on your profit, but not on all of it: a stack of deductions lowers your taxable income first. Knowing them easily saves thousands of euros per year. This is the full 2026 list: the entrepreneur deductions first, then your business costs per category, with the conditions and pitfalls.
The entrepreneur deductions: no receipts needed
The biggest deductions have nothing to do with costs: you get them simply for being an entrepreneur. They come off your profit before income tax is calculated, at your marginal rate of 35.70%, 37.56% or 49.50% in 2026.
The hours criterion
For the self-employed deduction and the starter deduction you must meet the hours criterion: at least 1,225 hours per year spent on your business. Billable hours count, but so do sales, administration and travel time. Track them, including the non-billable ones; in an audit you must be able to substantiate them. See the guide on the hours criterion.
Self-employed deduction: 1,200 euros in 2026
This deduction has been shrinking for years: 1,200 euros in 2026, 900 euros in 2027. Still free money if you meet the hours criterion, but do not count on the amounts from a few years ago.
Starter deduction: 2,123 euros extra
Just started? Add 2,123 euros on top, in at most three of your first five years as an entrepreneur, and only in years in which you also meet the hours criterion.
SME profit exemption: 12.7% tax-free
The SME profit exemption applies to virtually every entrepreneur, without an hours criterion: 12.7% of your profit (after the entrepreneur deductions) is exempt from tax. The tax return applies it automatically.
Business costs per category
| Cost | Deductible? | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Home office | Usually not | only a self-contained space qualifies |
| Car and travel | Yes | business (addition) or private (€ 0.23 per km) |
| Phone and internet | Business share | take out private use |
| Training | Yes | current profession only |
| Disability insurance (AOV) | Yes | via the tax return, not the profit |
| Pension (annuity) | Yes | within your jaarruimte |
| Business meals, gifts | Limited | not fully deductible |
| Laptop, tools, furniture | Yes | depreciate from € 450 |
| Software, subscriptions | Yes | fully deductible |
A few rules deserve detail:
- Home office. Only deductible if it is a self-contained part of your home with its own entrance and its own sanitary facilities, plus income conditions. A desk in the spare room almost never qualifies. Your laptop, monitor and tools remain deductible as normal.
- Car and travel. A company car means all car costs are deductible but private use is added to your profit: 22% of the list price in 2026, 18% up to € 30,000 for a new electric car. Only a watertight mileage log showing at most 500 private kilometres avoids it. Keep the car private and you deduct € 0.23 per business kilometre instead. See company car or private or the calculator.
- Pension. Annuity contributions are deductible within your jaarruimte: at most € 35,589 in 2026, plus up to € 42,753 of unused room from the past ten years. The jaarruimte calculator works it out; background in the jaarruimte guide.
- Business meals and gifts. Deductible for 80% of the actual costs, or fully above a fixed threshold (see belastingdienst.nl); the threshold route only pays at high amounts.
- Investments. Purchases from € 450 excluding VAT are depreciated over several years, usually five. Invest more than a threshold amount in total per year and the small-scale investment deduction (KIA) gives extra deduction on top; current thresholds and percentages are on belastingdienst.nl.
- AOV. Disability insurance premiums are not a business cost but are deductible in your income tax return; future payouts are taxed.
Common mistakes
Using outdated deduction amounts, failing to substantiate the hours criterion, booking private costs (regular clothing, traffic fines, health insurance are never deductible), and confusing a deduction with a discount: 100 euros of deduction saves roughly 36 to 50 euros of tax. And above all: no receipt means no deduction. You must keep your records for seven years; see setting up your administration.
How Finq handles it
Photograph a receipt and the expense is in your books with the attachment stored for the retention period. Trips are logged for the € 0.23 deduction and investments are booked separately so depreciation is right. Curious what the deductions mean net? The free income calculator applies them instantly.
This is general information about the 2026 rules, not personal tax advice. In doubt, consult a bookkeeper or the Belastingdienst.