Three Dutch companies get 91% of innovation box tax advantage
In the media image: Unsplash+
91% of the tax advantage from the innovation box goes to just three companies: ASML, Booking.com and MSD. Jan van de Streek, Professor of Tax Law, told media outlets that this is not the intended outcome of this special tax regime.
It appears that the scheme, intended to encourage innovation and research in the Netherlands, mainly benefits large, well-established companies. Under the scheme, companies pay less tax because they qualify for a reduced corporate income tax rate on profits from innovative activities. In 2025, this amounted to a total tax benefit of €2.9 billion for around 3,000 companies.
Yet, an investigation carried out by national newspapers Financieele Dagblad and Trouw has revealed that the vast majority of the tax benefit goes to just a handful of multinationals. Pharmaceutical multinational MSD, which has more or less ceased its research activities in the Netherlands, still benefits from the scheme, for example. Van de Streek criticises this: 'We no longer have the laboratories, high-skill employment, and investments [here, ed.].’
Learn more
Want to learn more about the criticism and responses from politicians? Read the full article on BNR. Also see the articles in Trouw and in the Financieele Dagblad (all in Dutch).
Tax Transparency Project
Van de Streek is involved in the ‘Tax Transparency Project’, a collaboration in which politicians, journalists and NGOs can put questions to researchers at Leiden University about tax issues. The support has led to various publications, including one on this particular tax advantage.