Millionaire Wealth and a Modest Tax Bill Can Both Be True

For founders, the real issue is where value sits, when income arises, and whether the records agree.

A founder is preparing for the annual meeting with the accountant. The BV has gained value, but its cash already has jobs to do: wages, stock and debt repayments. No dividend was paid. The private return looks modest beside the value of the company shares. Meanwhile, the shareholder loan has not been reviewed for months.

From outside, the household may look wealthy. Inside the business, the cash is working.

That is why the public debate about millionaires paying little income tax needs a more useful reading. Wealth and taxable income measure different things. Wealth describes a balance sheet on a particular date. Income tax follows salary, dividends, gains, investment returns, deductions and legally defined events during a year.

The distinction is not an excuse. It is the beginning of a better question: what is the founder accepting or postponing, and what cash, tax and governance result will follow?

Wealth and income follow different clocks

CBS recorded 451,800 private households with net wealth of at least €1 million on 1 January 2024. They represented 5.5% of private households. Together, they held €1,237.8 billion in net wealth, with median wealth of about €1.55 million. The figures are provisional.

These are household figures, not a count of individual taxpayers or annual tax bills. Household wealth is assets minus debts. It can include a home, other property, investments, business assets and shares in a company.

A household can cross the millionaire threshold without having €1 million available to spend. A founder's wealth may sit largely in a company that employs people, owns equipment or needs working capital. A home may have risen in value while producing no monthly income.

The word millionaire does not explain a tax return by itself. The composition of the wealth matters, as does the moment at which income or a taxable benefit arises.

The founder's three tax routes

For an owner-manager, the personal tax picture usually begins with three separate routes.

Salary belongs in Box 1. A working shareholder with a substantial interest falls under the customary-wage regime. For 2026, the wage is generally at least the highest of comparable employment pay, the highest employee wage within the company or a connected company, and €58,000. A lower comparable wage may apply when the founder can substantiate it.

That makes salary more than a number selected at year-end. The founder's role, working time, comparable pay, payroll processing and company circumstances need to form a credible whole.

Dividends and gains from a substantial interest belong in Box 2. A substantial interest generally starts at 5% ownership. In 2026, Box 2 income is taxed at 24.5% up to €68,843 and 31% above that amount.

Retained profit does not automatically become a personal dividend. An increase in the value of company shares does not automatically create annual Box 2 income either. Tax may arise later through a distribution, sale or another taxable benefit.

The company may also have paid corporation tax before any private distribution occurs. A modest personal income-tax bill therefore gives only part of the picture around company profit.

Box 3 covers relevant private savings and investments. Until new legislation applies, the Belastingdienst calculates the notional return unless the taxpayer reports a lower actual return under the applicable counter-evidence rules. Actual return includes income and annual value changes across the relevant Box 3 assets.

The Wet tegenbewijsregeling box 3 took effect on 19 July 2025. The Tweede Kamer adopted the Wet werkelijk rendement box 3 proposal on 12 February 2026, while the Eerste Kamer still had to consider it. The government intends a new Box 3 system from 1 January 2028 and is moving the design towards a capital-gains model.

Where governance enters the return

The founder in the opening scene has done nothing improper merely by retaining profit. Keeping cash inside the BV may protect wages, stock purchases or an investment plan. Pressure begins when company and private money move without clear decisions.

A shareholder loan is the obvious example. Where a taxpayer and fiscal partner owe their own company more than €500,000 at the relevant year-end, the excess can generally be treated as Box 2 income. Statutory rules apply to qualifying home debt and other conditions.

The threshold is not permission to withdraw €500,000 informally. A loan remains a loan. Interest, repayment arrangements, commercial terms, security where appropriate and consistent bookkeeping matter. Tax on the excess does not erase the debt from the company's accounts.

This makes the millionaire debate a governance question as much as a tax question. Salary policy, dividend decisions and private borrowing should agree with payroll, shareholder resolutions, agreements, bank movements, annual accounts and tax returns.

When those records tell different stories, a reasonable business decision becomes harder to explain. That is often where the real problem begins, not in the headline value of a founder's shares.

Cash has its own demands

The commercial pressure is real. A dividend that looks affordable in the annual accounts may weaken the cash available for staff or suppliers. A low salary may flatter company liquidity while creating payroll exposure. Private spending through the shareholder account may postpone an uncomfortable conversation, but it does not solve the underlying cash need.

Before the accountant's meeting, the useful exercise is a reconciliation of where value sits and how private liquidity was created.

Put the salary position beside the work actually performed. Put dividends beside the company cash forecast. Put shareholder debt beside its written terms and year-end balance. Give private Box 3 records the same care, especially valuations, income, debts and the use of property.

The result may still be a modest personal income-tax bill in a year of substantial household wealth. That can follow from the composition of the assets and the timing of taxable events. It may also leave future tax, liquidity and succession decisions waiting.

A balance sheet shows what has been built. A tax return shows selected events within one year. Good governance connects the two without pretending they are identical.

That is the more honest reading of millionaire wealth. It is also the more useful one for any founder whose company value is growing faster than private cash.

The data, sourcing, and analysis behind this article were conducted by Linda Pavan Geraedts. AI was not used to identify sources, build the factual basis, or produce the analytical judgment contained here. AI was used only as a drafting aid. The final English text was personally reviewed, edited, and approved by Linda Pavan Geraedts before publication.

References

• Hoeveel miljonairs in Nederland betalen geen of nauwelijks inkomstenbelasting? - Taxence
• CBS - What the official millionaire count actually measures
• CBS - Composition of household wealth, including company shares
• Belastingdienst - Owner-managed company income and the substantial-interest regime
• Belastingdienst - Salary rules for working substantial-interest shareholders
• Belastingdienst - Loans from a private company and the excess-borrowing boundary
• Belastingdienst - Box 3 in 2026: transitional taxation and actual-return counter-evidence
• Rijksoverheid - Current Box 3 rates and the planned move to an actual-return system