If you’ve been employed, chances are you’ve encountered a “loonstrook” (pay slip) and recognized it as a document detailing the breakdown of your earnings. This seemingly small piece of paper carries significant weight, allowing you to not only verify the accuracy of your salary but also understand crucial aspects such as accrued vacation pay, pension contributions, and reimbursements for travel expenses.
Although we referred to it as a piece of paper, it’s highly likely that your payslip is now received online, either via email or through your company’s internal employee portal. Many employers send out (digital) payslips on a monthly basis, but this isn’t mandatory. However, you should receive one with your initial salary payment and whenever there are changes to your salary or withholding taxes.
Payslip, Salarisstrook, or Salarisspecificatie?
Your employer might use different terms like “salarisstrook” or “salarisspecificatie,” but these are interchangeable names for the same document. Throughout this post, we’ll switch between these terms.
Understanding Your Payslip: A Detailed Breakdown
At first glance, the payslip seems straightforward. However, delving into the numbers and terminology might raise some questions. What does “sv-loon” on your payslip mean, and how about those other abbreviations? Let’s break down the payslip into its components for a better understanding. Note that each company may have its unique “salarisspecificatie,” so your payslip might display slightly different information.
Fixed Information
At the top of your payslip, you’ll typically find personal and basic work-related details, such as your BSN, date of birth, gender, marital status, date of employment, and job title. Additionally, there are some details that may need further explanation:
- LH-tabel (Wage Tax Table): This table determines the amount of wage tax on your income. The white table applies if you’re an employee, while the green table applies if you receive benefits. Benefits from the green table do not qualify for a labor tax credit.
- Heffingskorting (Tax Credit): The wage tax credit is a discount on income tax and national insurance contributions. Your payslip indicates whether this credit is applied.
- Tijdvak (Period): This is the period over which the wage is calculated, usually a month.
- Jaarloon BT (Annual Special Rate Income): This is the fiscal income from the previous year as stated on your year-end statement. If you weren’t employed for the entire previous year, your monthly income from that period is converted into an annual income. New employers make an estimate.
- Percentage BT (Special Rate): The income tax percentage calculated on special benefits. This percentage determines how much tax is withheld on items like vacation pay, overtime, and payable vacation hours.
- Parttime percentage (Part-time Percentage): This indicates whether you’re working part-time or full-time. 100% represents a full-time workweek. If, for instance, you work 4 days a week, your part-time percentage is 80%.
- Minimumloon (Minimum Wage): The legally mandated minimum wage, usually specified based on a full-time contract for your age.
Salary Components
This section provides a detailed breakdown of your monthly earnings and the amounts allocated to taxes and premiums:
- Basisloon (Base Salary): Your gross monthly salary based on a full-time contract.
- Normaal tarief (Normal Rate): Amounts subject to standard tax rates, such as your salary.
- Bijzonder tarief (Special Rate): Amounts subject to the special tax rate, including vacation pay, overtime, and payout of vacation days.
- ZFW/WW/WAO/ZW/ZVW: If you find these abbreviations on your payslip, it indicates your coverage under various social insurance laws. The deduction amounts are also specified. For instance, ZFW stands for the Health Insurance Act (ZFW wn = to be paid by the employee, ZFW wg = to be paid by the employer).
- Inhouding pensioen (Pension Deduction): The amount deducted from your salary for your pension.
- Loon SV (SV Salary): This represents the Social Security Salary, the income on which you pay taxes and social insurance premiums. In practice, it’s your gross salary minus any pension deductions.
- Loonheffing (Income Tax): The amount you pay in taxes.
- Reiskostenvergoeding (Travel Allowance): The net reimbursement for your incurred travel expenses.
- Uit te betalen (To Be Paid): Your net salary plus any additional benefits, such as vacation pay or overtime. The payslip also specifies the bank or giro account to which the salary will be transferred.
- Cumulatieven (Cumulative Totals): This section displays the totals of various salary components from January 1st to the current period of the payslip. It includes totals for SV salary, income tax, and labor tax credit.
- Dagen/uren (Days/Hours): In this segment, you can review not only the hours worked during the current period but also details such as taken vacation days, unpaid leave, or sick leave. All this information is presented in terms of days and hours.
- Reserveringen (Reservations): This section provides a detailed overview of accrued vacation pay, leave hours and/or days, and ADV (shortened working hours) hours and/or days. The columns ‘bij’ (additions) and ‘af’ (deductions) show any changes during the current period.
Your payslip is more than just a list of numbers and abbreviations; it’s a comprehensive breakdown of your earnings and deductions. Understanding each component ensures you have a clear picture of your financial situation and helps you keep track of important details like taxes, pension contributions, and accrued benefits.