The Netherlands vs Germany work visa question usually gets answered on tax, and the tax answer changes on 1 January 2027. If you are choosing between them as a tech worker, the timing of your move is now part of the decision.
Germany’s case has nothing to do with tax. It rests on two things the Netherlands does not offer at all: a route for developers without a degree, and permanent residence in under two years.
The Dutch deadline
The expat scheme, still universally called the 30 per cent ruling, lets a portion of your salary be reimbursed tax free. It stays at 30 per cent for 2025 and 2026. From 2027 the maximum becomes 27 per cent, and it applies at that rate for the whole 60-month period rather than tapering.
The salary conditions rise at the same time:
| Condition | Now | From 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Salary norm for the scheme | EUR 46,107 | EUR 50,436 |
| Under 30 with a master’s degree | EUR 35,048 | EUR 38,338 |
| Maximum tax-free portion | 30% | 27% |
Two practical notes. Transitional law generally protects people who have been using the scheme since before 2024, so this is a change for new arrivals rather than a retrospective cut. And the original plan was worse: a 30-20-10 taper that was largely reversed after criticism of the business climate. The current position is set out here.
So if the Netherlands is your choice and you can start in 2026 rather than 2027, that is worth real money over five years. Do not rearrange your life around it, but do not accidentally cross the line either.
What each one asks of you
| Netherlands | Germany | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary floor | EUR 5,942 a month at 30 or over, EUR 4,357 under 30, or EUR 3,122 on the reduced criterion | EUR 50,700 a year, or EUR 45,934.20 on the reduced rate |
| Degree required? | Effectively yes for the highly skilled migrant route | No, for IT specialists. Three years of experience in the last seven can replace it |
| Employer condition | Must be an IND recognised sponsor, a public register of 12,883 organisations | Any employer, but the Federal Employment Agency approves the no-degree route |
| Speed | The fastest mainstream process in Europe | Add roughly two to four weeks if the employment agency has to approve |
| Permanent residence | Five years of continuous residence | 21 months with B1 German, 27 with A1 |
| Tax | 30% now, 27% from 2027 | No comparable scheme |
One Dutch detail that catches people: the monthly thresholds exclude the 8 per cent holiday allowance, so annualising them at twelve months understates your actual pay and comparing them directly with a German annual figure is comparing unlike things.
Germany’s real advantage is Section 18g
This is the fact that should decide it for a large number of developers, and it is buried in legislation rather than in marketing. Under Section 18g of the Residence Act, an IT specialist can hold an EU Blue Card with no academic qualification at all:
- Three years of professional IT experience within the past seven years.
- At a level comparable to a graduate’s, and genuinely required by the role you are being hired into.
- A fixed gross salary of at least EUR 45,934.20. Bonuses, equity and variable commission do not count towards it.
- Federal Employment Agency approval, adding roughly two to four weeks.
If you came up through a bootcamp, a support role or your own projects, that is the difference between a career abroad and no route at all. The Dutch highly skilled migrant scheme has no equivalent. More in software developer jobs abroad and Blue Card thresholds by country.
And the second one is how fast it ends
A German Blue Card holder can apply for a settlement permit after 21 months with B1 German, or 27 months with A1, provided pension contributions have been paid for the period and the Living in Germany test is passed. The Netherlands asks for five years.
Two things to get right. A1 is mandatory either way, so there is no version of this without German. And the clock starts when the Blue Card is issued, not when you arrive, which matters if you enter on something else and switch.
Set against a 30 per cent tax advantage for five years, permanent residence in under two is a different kind of thing entirely. Tax relief expires. Residence does not. The language courses are often free: see free German language courses for visa holders.
The practical difference nobody prices in
Both countries have a housing problem and they have different ones, and it is the thing most likely to make your first six months miserable regardless of which threshold you cleared.
In the Netherlands the pressure is concentrated. The Randstad, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, is where most international tech work is and where the rental market is tightest, so a good salary does not guarantee a place to live. Many people arrive into temporary accommodation and spend months looking. Ask whether the employer offers relocation support and treat a yes as part of the package rather than a courtesy.
In Germany the problem is procedural as much as financial. You generally need a registered address to complete the Anmeldung, and you need that registration before a lot of ordinary life works, including some bank accounts and the tax identification number. Tech work is also spread across more cities, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, so the search is wider and the costs differ sharply between them. See the cheapest German cities to live in for how large that spread is.
Which to choose
| If you | Choose | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Have no degree | Germany | Section 18g is the only route of its kind in Europe |
| Graduated in the last three years | The Netherlands | EUR 3,122 a month on the reduced criterion is the lowest realistic bar in western Europe |
| Want to settle permanently | Germany | 21 months against five years, if you will learn the language |
| Want the highest net pay for a few years | The Netherlands, arriving in 2026 | 30 per cent rather than 27, and the older salary norm |
| Do not want to learn a language | The Netherlands | English-language workplaces are normal, and German settlement requires at least A1 |
Related: the Dutch thresholds in full, the highly skilled migrant scheme and how Germany’s Blue Card rules loosened. Browse tech roles with visa sponsorship on our board.
Last checked September 2026. The Dutch expat scheme changes on 1 January 2027 and its euro figures are indexed annually; German Blue Card thresholds are recalculated each January. Confirm before acting.
