What happens if you leave the Netherlands?

Tax duties

For the period you live in the Netherlands you have to pay tax in the Netherlands. Until that moment you are treated as Dutch resident. The moment you leave the country this residency ends.

It is very important that you deregister at the local municipality. Otherwise the tax office won't stop sending you tax returns in the future.

Right to choose for fiscal residency for the whole year

The year you leave the Netherlands you may choose to be treated as Dutch resident as if you were living here the whole year. In that case you must declare all your income (Dutch and foreign) in that year in the Netherlands. To prevent double taxation certain rules will apply. This choice can be beneficial in some situations, when you have income in the Netherlands or a fiscal partner. For example you can still claim the following tax benefits in that year:

• tax credits;
• mortgage interest deduction (mortgage for your main residence in the Netherlands and in the other country);
• tax free amount in box 3;
• personal deductions (for example education costs).

If you don't choose to be treated as if you were resident in the Netherlands the whole year you lose these benefits. You also lose part (9%) of the tax credits for the period you were living in the Netherlands.

Social security

After you left the Netherlands you are no longer insured for Dutch social security unless you keep income from the Netherlands. The only social benefit you keep is the state pension (AOW) but you don't pay premium anymore. Every year you were in the Netherlands you built up 2% of the full amount. The SVB will pay out the benefit when you become 65.

See also the brochure about the AOW.

Tax return and tax assessment

Once the year in which you have left the Netherlands ends the tax office may send you a special tax return: the M form. The tax office can only do this when they know your new address or when you have authorized somebody else to arrange your tax matters in the Netherlands. For more information, see below. If you don't receive one, an M form can be requested. This is important because most of the time the tax return will show a refund. Please contact us so we can file the M form for you. To receive the refund we advise you to keep your Dutch bank account open. A foreign bank account will delay the procedure further.

It's possible that you also receive a so called conserving tax assessment. You will receive one if you have deducted premiums for a lijfrenteinsurance in the past or if you built pensionrights. The tax assessment is based on the value of your insurance- and pensionrights. You can get a time extension of 10 years for this assessment. Once the ten years are over you don't have to pay the tax anymore. Only if you end, sell or lend your pensionclaims during the 10 years the time extension will be withdrawn and tax has to be paid.

If you receive a monthly provisional refund it's best if you cancel it to prevent that you have to pay some of it back at the end of the year.

If you leave the country you can authorize Expatax to take care of your tax matters. Of course you can decide to arrange everything yourself but if you authorize us things can be arranged much quicker.

Here you will find our authorization form.

A tax return for the year you leave the Netherlands can only be filed once the year has ended. You can contact Expatax at that time so that we can file the M form for you.

I am going to leave NL and would like to rent out my property in NL. What are the consequences?

If you no longer use the Dutch property as your main residence then you lose the possibility to deduct the mortgage interest. The property will then move from Box 1 to Box 3. The property stays taxable in the Netherlands based on international law and tax treaties since it is located in the Netherlands. The real rent you will receive is not relevant and neither are the other costs you have to make (tax, maintenance etc.)

Calculation: Real value of the property -/ outstanding mortgage * 4% fictitious profit * 30% tax = what you have to pay in the Netherlands. So 1.2% over the equity in the property. If there is no equity then you don't pay anything in NL.

Make sure you cover the mortgage interest with the rent you would like to receive. If you sell the property with a profit in the future then this profit is tax free since there is no capital gains tax in the Netherlands for individuals.