The tax deduction for travel expenses/commuting (reisaftrek)

The only expenses which can be deducted in the annual income tax return in Box 1 relating to income from current employment, are qualifying expenses for commuting per public transport. For deduction itis required that the employee travels at least one day per week from the place of residence or regular place of stay to the place where the employment is exercised.

Traveling at least 40 days per year, qualifies as traveling once per week. The travel must be done by public transport and evidenced by a so-called public transport statement (in Dutch: 'openbaarvervoerverklaring').

The expenses must be reduced with travel cost reimbursements received from the employer.

If the employee travels at least 4 days per week, the deduction for travel expenses/commuting can be calculated as follows (2023):

If the employee travels 3, 2 or 1 day(s) per week, the deduction is respectively 75%, 50% or 25% of the above mentioned annual amounts if the commuting distance is less than 90 kilometers. If the commuting distance is more than 90 kilometers, the deduction equals 26 cents per kilometer multiplied with the travel kilometers and days on which the employee travels, but no more than € 2,354 per year in 2023 (€ 2,214 for 2022).