An hourly rate is half the story. For seven professions we take the average gross rate and run it through to the net effective rate (NER): what's left per billed hour after unbillable hours, costs, Dutch tax and reserves. The source rates come from the Knab Zzp Uurtarievenboekje 2026, a survey among more than 20,000 self-employed professionals in the Netherlands, 80 professions covered. The calculation itself is Peil's own, with 2026 rates.
Consultant charges the most: €121 an hour, of which €60.18 is left over. Freelance healthcare charges the least, €46 an hour, and keeps €27.23. Both professions lose roughly half their rate along the way. The gross rate says little about the relationship between fields: charge more, and a larger share goes to tax, so the gap between what you charge and what you keep grows with it.
The index
| Profession | Gross rate | Tax share | NER | Gross → NER |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consultant Consultant (non-IT), Knab 2026 | €121/hr | 36.7% | €60.18/hr | -50.3% |
| IT / software development Software developer, Knab 2026 | €94/hr | 34% | €47.87/hr | -49.1% |
| Marketing & communications Marketer, Knab 2026 | €82/hr | 31.7% | €42.74/hr | -47.9% |
| Copywriter Copywriter, Knab 2026 | €78/hr | 30.7% | €41.03/hr | -47.4% |
| Graphic design Graphic designer, Knab 2026 | €72/hr | 29.2% | €38.47/hr | -46.6% |
| Construction & technical trades Freelancer in construction (average across all construction trades), Knab 2026 | €61/hr | 25.6% | €33.72/hr | -44.7% |
| Freelance healthcare Care worker (verzorgende), Knab 2026 | €46/hr | 17.9% | €27.23/hr | -40.8% |
Calculate your own NER
The index runs on one fixed assumption per profession, spelled out below. Your own billable share, costs and reserves probably differ. Plug in your own numbers:
Your numbers
The hours that end up on a client invoice.
Sales, quotes, admin, marketing, learning.
Subtract holidays, illness and quiet stretches.
1,104 billable of 1,656 hours worked per year.
Software, insurance, workspace, bookkeeper: what leaves monthly.
An employee keeps being paid through 25 holiday days and 8 sick days: 12.7% of the year. You are not. 15% covers that plus quiet stretches.
Net effective rate
Your hourly rate is €75 per hour. After unbillable hours, costs, tax and reserves, you keep €42 of it per billed hour.
Indicative, not tax advice. Your NER is what you keep per billed hour after costs and tax, with the 2026 rates and the same calculation core as the Peil app. VAT is not part of this: you charge it on top of your rate and remit it quarterly. It is never part of what you keep. The tax shown is your income tax, national insurance and ZVW contribution. AOV and pension lower that tax, but they are also an expense of their own, so they come off. So does your buffer: an employee keeps being paid through holidays and illness, you are not, so you reserve it yourself. What remains is your take-home pay: what you can draw as personal income, before your own living costs.
The assumptions, made visible
A NER is never one fixed number. It depends on how much you invoice, what your costs are and how much you reserve. To compare seven professions fairly, we run them all through the same assumptions rather than a per-profession guess that could distort the comparison:
- Billable share: 74%, or 1288 billable hours of 1741 hours worked per year. An established practice; starters realistically run lower, 25 to 60%.
- Business costs: €5,000 per year.
- Buffer: 15% of net income, for holidays, illness and quiet stretches that an employee is paid through and a freelancer self-funds.
- AOV + pension: €200 per month, deductible as a personal deduction. For freelance healthcare that's a substantial share of income; for consultant it's barely noticeable. We hold the amount fixed so the professions stay comparable; your own premium typically scales with income in practice.
- Status: established entrepreneur, no startersaftrek.
Change your assumptions and the NERs move with you. Use the calculator above with your own numbers. This is modeled from public rate data, not measured Peil data: the gross rate per profession comes from Knab, the rest is Peil's calculation core. VAT is never part of these figures; you charge and remit it separately, on top of your rate.
Why the gross rate doesn't double into net
Dutch income tax is progressive. The higher your profit, the larger the share that goes to tax. A rate that's 2.6 times as high, like consultant versus freelance healthcare, doesn't produce a 2.6 times higher NER. The top gets compressed by a heavier tax share: 36.7% of revenue against 17.9%. Double your rate, and your NER won't double with it.
One rate, one moment. Your NER moves all year.
This index runs on a fixed assumption. Peil runs on your own hours, rate and costs, and tracks your NER continuously, even when a contract ends or your rate changes.
Calculate your own NER live in PeilSources & method
Gross rates: Knab Zzp Uurtarievenboekje 2026, a survey among more than 20,000 self-employed professionals in the Netherlands, 80 professions covered. Every figure above links to the specific Knab page it's from, with its publication date. Where no clean public median existed, that field was left out. Seven honest figures beat ten with false precision.
Tax and reserve calculation: the same 2026 parameters as the Peil app and the free calculators, zelfstandigenaftrek, MKB-winstvrijstelling, box 1 brackets, tax credits and the ZVW contribution.
Indicative, not tax advice. Run your own numbers: net effective rate · minimum rate · Dutch freelance tax · all 2026 tax figures