For your first job your employer gives you the form Model opgaaf gegevens voor de loonheffingen. With it you determine, among other things, whether your employer applies the payroll tax credit; if you have several jobs at once, you have it applied by one employer [1]. If you're studying, you can ask your employer to apply the student and pupil scheme, under which it withholds no or less payroll tax [1]. Your employer checks your identity and keeps a copy of your identity document [2]. Conditions and amounts change; check them at belastingdienst.nl.
What is payroll tax and what is the payroll tax credit?
When you work, your employer usually withholds tax from your wages in advance: payroll tax. You can get a discount on it, the payroll tax credit, so that you pay no tax on part of your income. In the form you indicate whether your employer should apply that credit; you then receive more wages [1].
What is the student and pupil scheme?
If you're studying, you can ask your employer to apply the student and pupil scheme. The employer then withholds no or less payroll tax from your wages, so that you receive more pay. You use the form Model opgaaf gegevens voor de loonheffingen (studenten- en scholierenregeling) for this [1]. Conditions and amounts apply to this scheme; you can read them at the Tax Administration.
What do you have to provide yourself?
- An original, valid identity document. The employer checks it before you start and keeps a copy in the records; it must tell you what it uses the copy for and how you can black out data that aren't needed [2]. The Tax Administration advises always letting your employer make a copy [1].
- Your citizen service number (BSN). An employer may only ask for it once you start working there, not during the application [3].
- The completed payroll tax form, with your choice on the payroll tax credit or the student and pupil scheme [1].
Do you get tax back, and does working affect your student finance?
When you work, your employer often withholds tax from your wages; according to DUO you can usually get part of it back through the Tax Administration [4]. DUO also states that since 2020 you may earn without limit, with no earnings ceiling [4]. We write about benefits and the tax return in our article on student finance and working.
What must your employer tell you?
Within one week of starting, your employer must tell you in writing, among other things, the job, the start date, the hours, the salary and any probation period; within one month follow, among other things, the holiday allowance, the number of holiday days and the notice period [5]. Check that the details match what was agreed.
Checklist for your first working day
- Bring your original identity document
- Fill in the payroll tax form and choose deliberately with which employer the payroll tax credit is applied
- Ask whether the student and pupil scheme applies to you and read the conditions at the Tax Administration
- Ask for your agreements in writing, including hours, hourly wage and arrangements around exams
Sources
- Belastingdienst: Ik werk in loondienst, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Ondernemersplein (Rijksoverheid): ID-bewijs controleren en bewaren, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (2025): Personal data of applicants, accessed 11 October 2026.
- DUO (2026): Bijverdienen, accessed 11 October 2026.
- Rijksoverheid: Wat staat er in een arbeidsovereenkomst?, accessed 11 October 2026.
