Box 3 changes 2028: what does this mean for tax on your gold and silver?

Anyone following Dutch politics on wealth taxation knows there is a lot going on. In February 2026, the House of Representatives approved the new Real Return in Box 3 Act. After that, things went differently than expected. The Senate suspended its vote, and on Budget Day 2026 the government announced it does not yet have a proposal that a majority can agree on. A decision is now expected with the Spring Memorandum of 2027.

For you as a precious metals owner, this mainly means one thing: nothing changes for the time being. At the same time, the new system has not been abandoned. In this article you will read what currently applies to gold and silver in box 3, what the suspended bill would mean, and what to keep in mind while the political decision is pending.

What currently applies to gold and silver in box 3?

As long as no new system has been introduced, your precious metals fall under the current box 3 system based on an assumed return. The Dutch Tax Administration applies a fixed percentage to your assets rather than looking at the actual price development of your gold or silver. Physical precious metals fall into the category of 'other assets'.

In addition, the counter-evidence scheme applies. If you can demonstrate that your actual return was lower than the assumed percentage, you can ask the Tax Administration to use that lower figure. This scheme remains in place as long as the new system has not taken effect, which means it also applies to the 2027 tax year.

What you declare is the value of your precious metals on the reference date of 1 January. For that valuation you can consult our page on the annual reference value of investment gold.

What is changing in Box 3 in 2028?

To understand what may change in time, it helps to know the core of the bill. In recent years many investors experienced the wealth tax as unfair, which led to numerous court cases. The government therefore wants to move from an assumed return to the actual return. The originally intended start date was 1 January 2028, but that date has become uncertain now that the Senate has suspended its handling of the bill.

The most important shift is the transition from a fictitious return to the actual return.

In the current transitional system (which applies up to and including 2027), precious metals fall into the 'other assets' category. The Tax Authorities use a fixed, assumed return percentage for this. You pay tax on this percentage, regardless of whether the gold price rose or fell by 15% in that specific year.

Capital accrual tax (Vermogensaanwasbelasting)

From 2028, this principle will be completely abandoned. The new law looks at what your assets have actually done. For investments such as physical gold and silver, the government applies the so-called capital accrual tax. The core points of this new system are:

• Two reference dates: The Tax Authorities calculate your return by comparing the value of your precious metals on January 1 with the value on December 31 of that same year.
• Tax on paper profit: Did your gold or silver increase in value in that calendar year? Then the tax authorities see this increase in value (the accrual) as your return, even if you have not sold the precious metal. You therefore pay tax on unrealized profit.
• The rate: The bill sets out a rate of 36%, calculated on the increase in value after the tax-free return has been deducted.
• Exclusively capital gains: Where stocks pay out dividends and savings generate interest, physical precious metals do not generate interim income (regular benefit). With gold and silver, only the price development is looked at.

For many long-term investors, taxing unrealized profit feels unnatural. After all, you have to pay tax in hard euros on a price gain that is still safely stored in the form of bars or coins. However, this is the reality of the bill that the House of Representatives recently agreed to.

This requires a conscious structuring of your wealth, ensuring you have sufficient liquid assets (savings) to be able to pay a potential tax assessment in good gold years.

From tax-free wealth allowance to tax-free result

In the current system, you benefit as an investor from a tax-free wealth allowance. You only pay tax in Box 3 if your total wealth exceeds a certain threshold (in 2026, for example, this is € 57,684 without a fiscal partner).

This familiar system will disappear in the new bill for 2028. Because the Tax Authorities will soon no longer look at the total size of your wealth, but purely at the return you achieve on it, the exemption is also changing.

The tax-free wealth allowance will be replaced by a tax-free result.

• The threshold values: The bill assumes a tax-free return of € 1,800 per person, and € 3,600 for tax partners. These amounts are not fixed as long as the bill has not been passed.
• How it works: This simply means that you pay no tax on the first € 1,800 of realized actual return (or paper accrual). Only when the increase in value of your gold or silver in a calendar year is higher than this threshold, will you pay tax on the excess.

Precious metals in Box 3: how the capital accrual tax works

When the new system definitively comes into effect in 2028, as an investor in physical precious metals you will face the capital accrual tax. This system differs fundamentally from the way the tax authorities deal with your savings account or your own home (Box 1), for example. It is important to understand how this works in practice for your coins or bars.

The core of the capital accrual tax is that you are not only taxed on regular income, but also on the value development of your assets in a given year.

No regular income, only price gains

When calculating the actual return, the Tax Authorities look at two components:

• Regular income: Think of interest, dividends, or rental income.
• Value development (accrual): The increase or decrease in the market value between January 1 and December 31.

For physical precious metals, whether you own gold coins, silver bars, or platinum, an important characteristic applies: it generates no regular income. You do not receive dividends or interest on your precious metal. As a result, the taxation in Box 3 for this investment category revolves exclusively around the second component: the annual price development.

How is the accrual calculated?

The Tax Authorities look at the value of your total precious metals portfolio on January 1 of the calendar year and compare this with the value on December 31.

• Has the value increased? Then this difference is seen as your realized return (your 'accrual') in that year.
• Tax on unrealized profit: The crucial point of this system is that you pay tax on this increase in value, regardless of whether you have sold the precious metal. You are thus settling on paper profit.

This applies to all forms of physical precious metals, whether it involves bullion coins like the silver Maple Leaf or gold bars of a kilo. The tax authorities make no distinction in this.

A calculation example for precious metals in Box 3 (2028)

To make the impact concrete, we use a simplified calculation example based on the current bill (which includes a tax-free result of € 1,800 and a tax rate of 36%).

Please note: the example below is based on the bill as it currently stands before the Senate, with a tax-free return of € 1,800 and a rate of 36%. If the bill is amended, the outcome will change. Use it as an illustration of how the system works, not as a calculation of what you would actually pay.

Suppose you own a portfolio of gold and silver pieces worth € 80,000 on January 1, 2028.

• Valuation: On December 31, 2028, the price of precious metals has risen considerably. Your portfolio is now worth € 88,000.
• Return (accrual): Your actual return in that year is the increase in value: € 8,000.
• Exemption: From this return, you may deduct the proposed tax-free result (assuming fiscal partnership): € 8,000 - € 3,600 = € 4,400.
• Tax: On the remaining amount of € 4,400, you pay the proposed rate of 36% income tax.
• Tax payable in Box 3: In this scenario, you pay € 1,584 in tax on the increase in value of your precious metal.

Please note: this is separate from taxes upon purchase. You can find more information about this on our page regarding the taxation of precious metals.

From January 1, 2028, you will no longer pay tax in Box 3 on a fictitious return, but on your actually achieved return.

Much anger over tax on 'paper profit'

The new bill for Box 3 is causing a storm of criticism among investors, tax advisors, and in politics. The fuss revolves almost exclusively around the choice for the capital accrual tax for illiquid investments such as physical precious metals. The tax authorities will soon demand tax on money that has been earned on paper, but has not yet been realized.

The liquidity problem

You typically buy physical gold and silver for the long term. Does the gold price rise significantly in a calendar year? Then that is a wonderful return. However, the Tax Authorities do demand a payment in hard euros on that unrealized profit at the end of that year.

Have you fully locked up your wealth in precious metals and have insufficient free savings? Then in theory, you are forced to sell a portion of your gold purely to be able to pay the tax assessment. To many investors, this feels unjust and contrary to the idea of wealth preservation.

The call for a capital gains tax

Critics therefore strongly advocate for a capital gains tax. Under this, you only pay tax at the moment you actually sell your gold. Although the House of Representatives recently passed motions to investigate this system in the long term (towards 2029 or later), the reality for 2028 is different.

Due to limitations in the IT systems of the Tax Authorities, the tax on paper profit is for now the bitter pill that the precious metals investor will have to swallow.

What happens in the event of a decrease in the value of gold or silver?

Precious metals are market-dependent and inevitably experience peaks and valleys in their price trend. What happens under the new legislation if the gold or silver price falls in a calendar year and your portfolio is worth less on December 31 than on January 1?

The positive news is that the proposed system for Box 3 finally offers the possibility of loss offset (verliesverrekening). This is a fundamental difference from the current (and previous) system, where you had to pay tax on a fictitious positive return, even if your investments had actually fallen sharply in value.

How does loss offset work?

If the value of your precious metals portfolio falls over the calendar year, you realize a negative return (a negative accrual). From a tax perspective, you do not lose this loss.

• Dampening future profits: You may carry this loss forward to the future. For example, did you suffer a loss in 2028 due to a falling silver price? Then you can deduct this loss from your positive return in 2029 (or later years). As a result, you pay less tax on balance in those future, good years.
• The threshold: Do note that the bill includes a threshold amount to limit the administrative burden for the Tax Authorities. For the time being, this threshold is set at € 500. Losses (or profits) below this amount are disregarded for tax purposes.

What does this mean for your precious metals?

For now, nothing changes in the way your gold and silver are taxed. The current system remains in place, including the counter-evidence scheme, and this also applies to the 2027 tax year. At the same time, the new system has not disappeared: the bill is still before the Senate, and the government is expected to present new proposals with the Spring Memorandum of 2027. If a decision takes longer, the accompanying documents indicate a delay of at least a year.

That uncertainty makes planning ahead difficult, but one principle remains useful. Should a tax on unrealised gains ever arrive, it is helpful to hold sufficient free savings alongside your precious metals. That is a sound starting point in any case for an asset you would rather not sell off in parts.

Physical gold and silver are usually not bought for the short term, but to spread your assets over ten, twenty or thirty years. A change in the calculation method in box 3 does not alter the reason you hold precious metals. We follow developments closely and will update this page as soon as new decisions are taken.