[World Tax News] Dutch Government Publishes Overview of 2026 Tax Measures and More

Editorial Team – [2025] 181 taxmann.com 634 (Article)

World Tax News provides a weekly snippet of tax news from around the globe. Here is a glimpse of the tax happening in the world this week:

1. Dutch Government Publishes Overview of 2026 Tax Measures

The Dutch Ministry of Finance has released an overview of the main tax changes for 2026 following Senate approval of the 2026 Tax Plan and related laws on 16 December 2025.

Key measures include revised income tax brackets (lower first-bracket rate, higher second-bracket rate, unchanged top rate), a further reduction in the self-employed deduction, amendments to the ETK scheme restricting tax-free reimbursements, lower income thresholds for the labour tax credit, and the introduction of CBAM levies on imports based on CO₂ emissions.

Additional changes include reduced tax incentives for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, a lower taxable benefit discount for zero-emission company cars, an increase in VAT on short-term accommodation (excluding camping), a reduction in real estate transfer tax for residential property, a higher gambling tax rate, new reporting obligations for crypto-asset service providers under DAC8, and an increase in late-payment interest to 4.3% from 2026.

The Senate also approved several accompanying bills, covering technical tax amendments effective from 1 January 2026, distance-based flight taxation from 2027, streamlined taxpayer inspection rights, updates to the Minimum Tax Act aligned with OECD guidance (largely retroactive), implementation of DAC9 for exchange of GloBE information, and further amendments to environmental legislation to operationalise CBAM.

Source – Government of the Netherlands

2. Australia Releases New and Updated Pillar Two Guidance, Including for Tax Consolidated Groups

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released new guidance on the Pillar Two global minimum tax on 17 December 2025, focusing on the interaction of the Pillar Two rules with Australia’s tax consolidation regime. The newly issued guidance addresses, in particular:

Pillar Two lodgment obligations for tax consolidated groups, explaining how filing requirements apply where entities are members of a tax consolidated group;
Top-up tax for tax consolidated groups, outlining the methodology for calculating and allocating top-up tax within consolidated groups; and
Pillar Two reporting for tax consolidated groups, describing available reporting simplifications for consolidated groups under the Pillar Two framework.

In addition, the ATO has updated several related guidance materials, including:

Global and domestic minimum tax, providing an overview of the implementation of Pillar Two under the OECD/G20 Two-Pillar Solution for multinational groups in Australia;
When and how the Pillar Two rules apply, explaining the operation, scope, and applicability of the global and domestic minimum tax rules;
Lodging, paying and other Pillar Two obligations, setting out compliance requirements such as returns, payment obligations, and key deadlines;
Transitional CbC reporting safe harbour, detailing the application of the transitional Country-by-Country reporting safe harbour under Pillar Two; and
Specific Pillar Two issues, addressing particular matters raised by stakeholders through consultation and other channels that are not covered elsewhere in the Pillar Two guidance.

Source – Australian Taxation Office