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.
How is this calculated?
Your hourly rate barely predicts your NER — your billable ratio and Dutch tax matter at least as much. So we work backwards from your rate to what remains per billed hour, using the same calculation core as the Peil app and the 2026 rates.
- Billable hours. You don't invoice every hour you work — roughly 30 to 35% goes to acquisition, admin and proposals. We calculate with your own billable ratio (65–70% is realistic).
- Revenue = your hourly rate (excl. VAT) × your billable hours.
- − Business costs = fiscal profit. That is what the Belastingdienst taxes, not your revenue. Your AOV (disability insurance) and pension do not belong here — those are personal deductions, further down.
- − Tax. On your profit we calculate Dutch income tax, national insurance and the ZVW healthcare contribution — after the zelfstandigenaftrek (self-employment deduction), the MKB-winstvrijstelling (small-business profit exemption) and the general tax credits. See the tax calculator for that chain in detail.
- ÷ billable hours = your NER. What you actually keep per billed hour.
If you switch on AOV and pension, they lower your tax (they are deductible), but they are also an expense of their own. That is why we also show your NER after those contributions — that is what is genuinely left to spend.
One rate, one moment. Your NER moves all year.
Peil calculates your NER continuously from your real hours, costs and billable ratio — not from an assumption, but from what you actually invoice. You see immediately what a new assignment or a quiet month does to your rate.
Calculate your own NER live in PeilFrequently asked questions
What is your net effective rate (NER)?
Your net effective rate is what you actually keep per billed hour: your revenue minus your business costs and your tax, divided by your billable hours. Your gross rate is what goes on the quote; your NER is what your wallet sees. The difference sits in the hours you don't bill, your costs and the tax on your profit — together they often nearly halve your rate.
How do you calculate your hourly rate as a freelancer in the Netherlands?
The standard formula (desired annual income ÷ billable hours) misses three layers. One: unbillable hours — roughly 30 to 35% of your time goes to acquisition, admin and proposals. Two: your business costs. Three: Dutch income tax, which you pay on your profit, not your revenue. A rate only holds up once you work back to what remains after those three layers: your net effective rate.
What percentage of your hours is billable as a freelancer?
Realistically, a freelancer bills about 65 to 70% of the hours they work. The rest goes to acquisition, admin, proposals, travel and professional development — work that is necessary but never invoiced. If you calculate with 100%, you structurally set your rate too low. Track your own billable ratio rather than adopting an assumption.
Do Dutch tax deductions apply to expat freelancers?
Yes. The zelfstandigenaftrek (self-employment deduction, €1,200 in 2026) and the MKB-winstvrijstelling (small-business profit exemption, 12.70%) are not tied to nationality. They require being a registered ZZP'er and — for the zelfstandigenaftrek — meeting the urencriterium of 1,225 hours per year spent on the business, including unbillable work. This calculator applies both automatically.
Is VAT (btw) part of this calculation?
No. VAT (21% for most services in the Netherlands) is charged on top of your hourly rate; you collect it on behalf of the Belastingdienst and remit it quarterly. It is never your income, so your NER is calculated on revenue excluding VAT. The tax shown here is your income tax, national insurance and ZVW healthcare contribution on your profit — entirely separate from VAT.
Want to go deeper? Rate Index: what 7 professions charge and keep · What is your Net Effective Rate — and why it changes everything · Dutch freelance tax calculator · Freelance vs employment · NER in Peil