How much transfer tax do you pay in 2026?

If you buy a home in 2026 to live in yourself, you pay 2% transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) on the purchase price. If you are 18 to 34 years old and will live there yourself, you pay nothing for a home worth at most €555,000, once in your life: the starter exemption. For a home that will not be your main residence, such as a home to let, the rate since 1 January 2026 is 8%; for other real estate, such as land, a shop or an office, 10.4%. This is set out in articles 14 and 15 of the Legal Transactions Taxes Act (Wet op belastingen van rechtsverkeer).

The four rates since 1 January 2026

0%: the starter exemption, if you meet all the conditions.
2%: you will live in the home yourself but do not meet all the conditions of the starter exemption, for example because you are 35 or the home costs more.
8%: the home will not be your main residence, for example a home to let, a holiday home or a home for your child.
10.4%: all other real estate, such as land, commercial property or a garage you do not buy together with the home.

The buyer pays the tax. The notary calculates it and pays it over at the transfer: it is on the notary’s statement, next to their fee and the registration with the Kadaster. A company that buys a home does not live in it and therefore pays 8%.

The conditions of the starter exemption

You pay no transfer tax if all of the following are true (article 15(1)(p)):

you are an adult and younger than 35 on the day you sign the deed of transfer at the notary, not on the day of the purchase agreement;
you have never used the exemption before; whether you owned a house before does not matter;
you will live in the home yourself, as your main residence, and you declare this in writing in advance;
the home, with what belongs to it, is worth no more than €555,000.

That statement is the Tax Administration’s form 'Verklaring overdrachtsbelasting startersvrijstelling'. The notary must have it signed before the transfer.

Above the €555,000 limit

The limit is not a threshold above which you only pay on the excess. If the home is worth more than €555,000, the exemption lapses for the whole purchase price. If you will live there yourself, you pay 2% on the whole amount. The limit is adjusted every year (article 15(10)): check it for the year in which you sign the deed.

With two buyers

The exemption applies per buyer, for their own share. If you buy together and one of you is 35 or older, that buyer pays 2% on their share, and the younger buyer nothing on theirs if they meet the other conditions.

A few worked examples

Purchase price €400,000, you are 40 and will live there yourself: 2%, so €8,000.
The same home, you are 30, you use the exemption for the first time and you will live there: €0.
Bought together, half each, one buyer aged 30 and one aged 40: the older one pays 2% on €200,000, so €4,000.
The same home to let: 8%, so €32,000.

What may change in 2027

The government wants to lower the 8% rate to 7% from 1 January 2027, in the 2027 Tax Plan. The House of Representatives and the Senate still have to approve it (as of 26 October 2026). If you sign the deed early in 2027, check the rate at that time.

What the Perceelscan does with it

Section 15 of the report, Costs of buying, puts all the rates side by side with the limit of the starter exemption, and calculates in your browser with the purchase price you enter; nothing is stored. Whether you meet the conditions, we do not know: the notary establishes that. This is what it looks like: see that section in the sample report.

What else comes on top of the purchase price is explained in buyer’s costs.

Do I pay transfer tax if I am 35?

Yes: the starter exemption applies until you turn 35. If you will live in the home yourself, you pay 2%. Your age counts on the day you sign the deed of transfer.

Do I get the starter exemption if I owned a house before?

Yes, as long as you have never used the exemption yourself and meet the other conditions. You can only use it once.

Who pays the transfer tax, the buyer or the seller?

The buyer. The notary calculates it and pays it over at the transfer; with a 'kosten koper' price it comes on top of the purchase price.

Which rate applies to a garage or storage room?

If you buy it together with the home, the home’s rate applies. If you buy it later or separately, you pay 10.4%.

Sources

Check it for your address

Updated on 26 October 2026