In a vote on Tuesday, the Dutch Lower House approved the revised law introducing the option of a 10% lump sum payment that can be taken upon retirement. The introduction of the law will, however, probably be postponed once more, to 1 January 2026.
Parliament’s lower chamber had voted unanimously in favour of the possibility of lump sum withdrawals in late 2020. However, the Senate sent the law back because it wanted to give insurers and pension funds more time to change their IT systems and inform members about the lump sum.
While the amended law did not receive unanimous support this time around, still a large majority of 102 out of 150 seats were in favour.
When Parliament discussed the bill a fortnight ago, several members of parliament (MPs) expressed concern that members with small pensions would effectively lose most of their lump sum in the form of higher tax payments and disqualification for healthcare and rent allowances because of their temporarily higher incomes.
However, the amendment to the law aiming to prevent this, tabled by an opposition MP, was rejected after pensions minister Eddy Van Hijum concluded last week that it was too difficult to implement.
Postponement to 2026 looms
With the green light from Parliament’s Lower Chamber, the final introduction of the lump sum has come a step closer. The bill will now go to the Senate where it is also expected to pass easily as the parties that voted in favour in the Lower Chamber also have a large majority there.
After agreement from both chambers, the sector will need at least six to nine months to implement the new law and communicate it to members.
The government postponed the date for the lump sum to come into force for a sixth time last month, to 1 July 2025. However, as the Senate has yet to begin its consideration, it seems most likely that the new law will go into effect only on 1 January 2026.
This article was first published on Pensioen Pro, IPE’s Dutch sister publication. It was translated and adapted for IPE by Tjibbe Hoekstra
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