For many small business owners with a BV, the discussion about the gebruikelijk loon, the “customary salary” a director–shareholder must pay themselves, can feel abstract. Yet it quietly shapes daily decisions: how much salary to take, how much cash to leave in the company, and how your accountant structures your payroll. In 2026, the government has again examined this rule, which sets a benchmark salary of €58,000 for many owner-directors. The outcome is less dramatic than some expected, but still worth understanding.

The purpose of the rule is straightforward. When you own and run your own BV, the law assumes you are both employer and employee. Without safeguards, it would be easy to pay yourself a very low salary and leave profits in the company to reduce taxes or qualify for income-based benefits. The gebruikelijkloonregeling, introduced in 1997, tries to prevent that by requiring a salary similar to what someone would earn in a comparable job. In practice, the rule says the salary should usually be at least €58,000 in 2026, or higher if comparable roles pay more.

But here is where everyday reality diverges from theory. The recent evaluation shows that the actual salaries of owner-directors are about 80 percent of what would be expected if the rule were applied perfectly. In other words, the system mostly works, but not completely. One major reason is surprisingly simple: no one has a clear reference point. There is no central database showing what a “comparable job” pays, so both entrepreneurs and the tax authorities rely on rough comparisons, job sites, or industry guesses.

That uncertainty has a predictable effect. Many entrepreneurs treat the €58,000 threshold as a safe anchor: pay roughly that amount, and assume it will not raise questions. The research also found that around 40 percent of owner-directors report a salary at or below this level. Often there are legitimate reasons, start-ups, part-time work, or companies still finding their footing. But the numbers suggest that not every case can be explained so easily.

Interestingly, the government is not rushing to tighten the rule. Raising the minimum salary, for example, might sound logical. Yet policymakers concluded there is little evidence that a higher benchmark would actually improve compliance. It might simply create more disputes and more paperwork for entrepreneurs who already have to justify their figures. For small companies with only a few employees, which describes most Dutch BVs, such changes would add complexity without solving the core problem.

Instead, the focus will likely shift to clarity rather than stricter numbers. The Ministry of Finance is exploring whether a more standardized method could help determine a realistic salary based on comparable roles. In simple terms: better guidance, not necessarily higher taxes. The tax authority is also analyzing existing data to understand when the rule is applied correctly and when it is not.

For micro-entrepreneurs, the lesson is less about the exact amount and more about the reasoning behind it. If your salary sits around the norm, make sure it is defensible in simple terms: what someone with your responsibilities would earn elsewhere, how many hours you actually work, and how the company is performing. That explanation, written down somewhere in your files, often matters more than the precise number itself.

Because in the end, the gebruikelijk loon rule is not really about one salary figure. It is about whether the relationship between you and your own company looks like a normal employment relationship. And for a small business owner, the safest place to be is not the cleverest interpretation of the rule, but the most ordinary one.