You may sell your house to your child for any price you agree on together. If that price is below the WOZ value (the municipal property value), the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) treats the difference as a gift, and your child pays gift tax on whatever exceeds the exemption. Transfer tax is based on the market value, which is best established beforehand with a valuation.
Think of parents who are moving to something smaller and would like the house to go to a child who grew up in it. It feels like a family matter, but legally it is an ordinary purchase: a purchase agreement, a civil-law notary, often a mortgage, and transfer tax. The real difference with selling to a stranger is the price.
What price can you ask?
The price is up to you. For gift tax, the Belastingdienst compares what your child pays with the WOZ value of the home, and the difference is the gift. If you sell at the WOZ value or more, there is in principle no gift. The WOZ value is the one for the year of purchase, or, if your child chooses, the one for the following year. That is how article 21(5) of the Dutch Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (Successiewet) sets it out in 2026 (see the Belastingdienst page Hoe bepaal ik de waarde van een schenking, in Dutch).
Here is an example. Take a home with a market value of € 461,000, the average sale price in Almere in the first quarter of 2026. Suppose the WOZ value is € 430,000; that figure is made up for this example. If you sell the home to your daughter for € 400,000, the difference with the WOZ value, € 30,000, counts as a gift from you to her. If you sell for € 430,000, there is in principle no gift.
Gifts from parent to child are only taxed above the annual exemption. You can find the current amount on the Belastingdienst website. The one-off increased exemption for the family home, known in Dutch as the "jubelton", was abolished on 1 January 2024. A large price discount in one go can therefore quickly lead to a tax assessment.
Have the gift and the transfer tax for your own home calculated before you put a price on paper. WOZ value or market value explains why the two figures can be so far apart in Almere.
Why a valuation makes sense
Even if you already agree on the price, a valuation is worth having. If your child takes out a mortgage, the lender will want a valuation report validated by the NWWI, just as with any other purchase. The report also records what the home was worth at the moment of sale. If the tax office asks about it later, you have it in writing.
A validated valuation report costs € 850 with us, including VAT and validation fees, and is ready within five working days of the inspection. We do not value a home for the buyer when we are selling that same home ourselves. If we are not otherwise involved in the sale within your family, we can value the home. We are then only the valuer, and therefore independent. Of course, the family must not be related to the valuer. The difference between those roles is explained in Estate agent or valuer: what is the difference?.
How your child pays for the home
Your child pays the purchase price like any other buyer: with a mortgage, with savings, or with a combination of the two. If they cannot borrow the full amount, you can help as a parent.
Part of the purchase price can stay in place as a loan. Your child pays you interest and repays the loan, and the notary records this in an acknowledgement of debt. If your child pays a market rate of interest and repays at least on an annuity basis, they can deduct that interest, just as with a bank loan. They do have to report the loan to the Belastingdienst. For you as a parent, the loan counts as an asset in box 3.
You can also give an amount each year within the exemption, which your child uses to pay off part of that loan. That spreads the benefit over several years instead of putting it all into the purchase price at once.
Which set-up works depends on your own finances and on what your child can afford each month. The mortgage advisers of Vynanzie work in our office and can calculate it with you. The first conversation is free.
Transfer tax and the notary
Within the family, ownership still passes through a notary. Your child pays the buyer's costs: the notary, the Land Registry, a mortgage deed if there is one, and transfer tax.
If your child will live in the home, the rate is 2 percent. If they are under 35 and meet the conditions, they can use the one-off starter exemption. In 2026 it applies to homes worth up to € 555,000.
Note that transfer tax works with a different value than gift tax. It is charged on the value in economic transactions (waarde in het economisch verkeer), in other words the market value, with the purchase price as the minimum (article 9 of the Dutch Legal Transactions Taxes Act, Wet op belastingen van rechtsverkeer; see the Belastingdienst page Over welk bedrag betaalt u overdrachtsbelasting, in Dutch). The market value can be higher than the WOZ value. If your daughter buys the home from the example for € 400,000 and does not qualify for the exemption, she pays 2 percent of the market value of € 461,000. That is € 9,220. More about the rates in Changes to transfer tax rules in 2026.
What to think about as a parent
You pay off your own mortgage at the transfer, as with any sale. Ask your lender beforehand whether an early repayment penalty applies.
If you have more than one child, discuss the plan with all of them before you sign. A price discount for one child is a gift the others do not receive. You can have the notary record how this will be settled later in the inheritance. That saves everyone a conversation at the kitchen table nobody wants to have.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell my house to my child for € 1?
You can, but then almost the entire WOZ value is a gift and your child pays gift tax on it. On top of that, the tax office calculates transfer tax on the full market value of the home.
Do I need an estate agent to sell to my child?
No. You already have a buyer, so viewings and negotiations fall away. You do need a valuation report if your child takes out a mortgage, a sound purchase agreement and a notary. We can make the valuation report. The purchase agreement is best drawn up by the notary.
Can my child deduct the interest if they borrow from me?
Yes, if they pay a market rate of interest, repay at least on an annuity basis and report the loan to the Belastingdienst.
Do I pay tax on the profit from my house as a parent?
No. Profit on the sale of your own home is not taxed in the Netherlands, including when you sell to your child.
Getting a family sale right
Call us or drop by our office in the centre of Almere. We will look at what the home is worth and whether you need a valuation report, and the advisers of Vynanzie will work out the financing for your child. If the home goes to another buyer after all, selling a house in Almere explains how we handle that.
