Emigration? What to consider?


If you move or work abroad, you can usually speak of emigration. Often it is obvious whether or emigration is the case. However, in some situation, it may not be so clear whether or not you have emigrated. For example, if you work and live in Belgium during the week and come back to your family in The Netherlands at the weekend. To determine whether or not it is a case of emigration, the fiscal residence is taken into consideration. If it is determined that your fiscal residence is no longer in The Netherlands, you have emigrated. The fiscal residence is also the measurement to determine if you are obligated to pay taxes abroad or domestically.

Consequences emigration

An emigration has, among others, consequences for your obligation to pay taxes, premiums and your right to health care insurance. Below we will explain this further.

Tax obligation

If you settle in another country, your domestic tax obligation in The Netherlands end. You are no longer obligated to pay taxes in The Netherlands for your world income, but it is possible you still have other incomes in The Netherlands that are taken into account for your Dutch tax assessment. If you still enjoy income from The Netherlands, you are obligated to pay taxes abroad. This means that you still have the obligation to declare your taxes in The Netherlands. By means of tax treaties with the country in which you reside, you can check if you can prevent paying double taxes in your country of residence.

If you do not receive income from The Netherlands, you are no longer obligated to pay taxes abroad. This means you no longer have to submit your tax assessments for the income tax in The Netherlands.

Dutch social insurances

If you no longer live in The Netherlands nor receive labor income in The Netherlands, you are no longer insured for the Dutch social insurances.

Your income from labor performed The Netherlands fall under the payroll tax;

You perform activities as a self-employed professional exclusively in The Netherlands.

You are sent abroad on a temporary basis by your employer and are in possession of a posting of workers certificate of the Social Security Bank (SVB)

If you are insured in The Netherlands, you are obligated to pay a premium for social insurances. If you are not insured, you do not need to pay this premium, This also means you are no longer entitled to any allowance such as the unemployment allowance.

Old Age Pension (AOW)

The right to an old-age allowance (AOW-uitkering) remains even if you emigrate. This is because the old age pension is a cumulative insurance. This means that in the period of the fifty years before reaching your pension age, you build up 2% of old age pension annually. If you move abroad after your retirement age, the accumulation will still be 100%. However, if you move abroad before reaching your pension age, you will have 2% less old age pension per year in which you have not lived in The Netherlands.

You can also choose to insure for the old age pension and the surviving dependent allowance (Anw)

Healthcare insurance

If you are no longer insured for social insurances in The Netherlands, this means you are also no longer insured for healthcare. This means that you will need to get healthcare insurance in the country in which you reside. To prevent any unpleasant surprises, it is advisable to look over the option of healthcare insurance of the country and what cover these offer. Sometimes private healthcare insurance is the best option.

if you have any question about the consequences of your emigration, please do not hesitate to contact us at info [at] lupacompany.com or call us at +31204123507.