Changes to your wallet from 1 July

As is customary, a number of new rules and laws come into effect on 1 July. Some of the changes are good news, but others may leave you worse off financially. 

Here is an overview of the main changes. 

The minimum wage will increase by around 30 pence per hour for employees aged 21 and over. If you are under 21, the minimum wage rates for younger workers will also rise slightly. 

As the minimum wage increases, social assistance and certain benefits will automatically increase as well. People aged over 21 who live with a partner but have not yet reached the State Pension age will receive around €25 more per month in social assistance. Unemployed people and those receiving disability benefits will see an increase of almost 2%. 

Rents will increase for tenants. The rent for a social housing property may rise by a maximum of 4.1%. For tenants currently paying less than €350 per month, the maximum increase is €25. Those on higher incomes may face larger increases. Landlords may also propose an additional rent increase of up to €50 for higher middle-income households and up to €100 for high-income households.

For tenants renting a room, a mobile home or a mobile home pitch, landlords may increase the rent by up to 4.1%. 

Approved special mopeds registered before 1 July 2025, such as e-scooters, Segways and BSO buses, must have a registration plate from 1 July 2026. 

From 1 July, the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB) will first send a free payment reminder if someone fails to pay a traffic fine on time. Motorists will then have a further two weeks to pay before any surcharge is added. This is a pilot scheme that will run for at least 18 months.

From 1 July, telemarketers will no longer be allowed to call you, even if you are a former customer of a company. This means you should no longer receive calls encouraging you to switch energy supplier or internet provider. An exception has been made for lotteries, charities and publishers, which may continue to contact customers by telephone.

Sending a letter will also become more expensive if you need next-day delivery. From 12 July, PostNL may take up to two days to deliver domestic mail. If you still want a letter delivered the next day, an ordinary stamp will no longer be sufficient. Instead, you will need to buy a priority stamp costing €3.95. 

According to the Dutch government, nothing will change for bereavement mail or medical post. PostNL will continue to deliver at least 95% of these items within 24 hours (six days a week).

There will also be changes for customers ordering from online retailers such as Temu and Shein. Until now, parcels worth less than €150 were exempt from import duties. To reduce the huge number of parcels arriving from outside the EU, the European Union is abolishing this exemption. From 1 July, a charge of €3 per product category in your parcel will apply. 

This applies to parcels from all countries outside the European Union, including those containing items such as T-shirts, electronics or mobile phone cases.

Road tax will be temporarily reduced between 1 July and 31 December 2026. This measure is intended to compensate businesses facing high energy costs. During this period, companies will pay only half the usual motor vehicle tax on vans, while the tax on lorries weighing more than 12,000 kilograms will be reduced to €0.

You may also be affected by capacity problems on the Dutch electricity grid. Until now, these issues mainly affected large businesses, some of which have been unable to obtain or expand their electricity connections. Around 14,000 companies are currently on the waiting list.

From 1 July, consumers and small businesses may also experience delays if they apply for a higher-capacity electricity connection, for example to install a home charging point for an electric vehicle, a heat pump or an induction hob.

(Source: Rijksoverheid)

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