Dutch coalition teeters after VVD breaks ranks on wealth tax vote

The Netherlands' cabinet-backed 2027 tax plan cleared parliament by 76 votes to 74 on Thursday evening, but the margin masked a coalition rupture: the right-wing liberal VVD voted against the entire package after its coalition partners backed a wealth tax amendment tabled by left-wing opposition parties Pro and Volt.

The VVD had warned it would vote against the plan if the amendment was adopted, arguing it breaches the coalition agreement. Parliamentary leader Ruben Brekelmans left the chamber calling the day's events "appalling" and declined to say whether the party would remain in the coalition, leaving a cabinet collapse as a live possibility. Prime Minister Rob Jetten said he would meet deputy prime ministers — VVD leader Dilan Yesilgöz and CDA's Bart van den Brink — on Friday morning.

The amendment, described by its authors as a scaled-down "millionaires' tax", raises around €1 billion, compared with the €1.5 billion the original Pro and Volt plan targeted. It splits the existing box 3 tax on savings and investment returns into two rates: 35.5% on returns up to €60,000 a year, and 38.5% above that threshold. It also restricts "paper gifts" — arrangements where parents promise money to children on paper to reduce gift and inheritance tax. Around €400 million still has to be found from wealth taxes from 2028. Nearly €900 million of the proceeds will be used to reduce a planned rise in the lowest income tax rate.

D66 and the CDA secured the winning majority alongside Pro, Volt, 50PLUS, ChristenUnie, Denk and PvdD. The PvdD had said on Wednesday it would vote against, then changed position after D66 and the CDA agreed to raise the tax on private jets and drop a planned rise in train fares.

A no-confidence motion tabled by the anti-immigration PVV was defeated 116 to 34. The plan now goes to the Senate, where the coalition does not hold a majority.