Living in NL, Working UK Job - Taxes

Hi and welcome back,

Where you pay tax is in general decided by where you live, so if you live in Holland, you will both be assessed in Holland on your worldwide income.  There are double-taxation agreements in place between Holland and the US and UK, so you won't be assessed twice on the same income.  However, you should be aware that as a US citizen, you will still be required to submit annual returns to the IRS and be liable for any local state taxes, you can't get out of that unless you relinquish your US nationality.  This link will take you to a website that contains the current Dutch tax rates.

One other item of contention is that the tax-agreements only apply to income tax, the Dutch have additional social taxes for which you will be assessed and charged; the rate this year is 27.65% of your total income in addition to your income tax, the details are all in the link I gave you above.  One other piece of advice, be careful when you move; the Dutch tax-year runs from Jan > Dec and you will be assessed on the whole tax year, so if you arrive in November, you will owe 11 months worth of social taxes.

For your spouse; there is a section in the IND website about economically inactive residence, this link will take you there.  There some conditions (minimum income etc).

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you again for this - so very, very appreciated.

So, the Dutch will tax you for time you weren't even in the country? That's kind of crazy. I guess it would be better to move early in the new year then.

Absolutely; I moved there in December, I was not impressed.

Check with the tax office, but when I left the UK, (twice) I claimed back all the tax I paid that financial year (April - March) so if you move at the beginning of the year you get a nice rebate. This is unless things have changed. It's not something they advertise.

I wouldn't necessarily do what Sim City has just posted; at least not in Holland.

If you are UK resident, you currently can earn up to £11.850 tax-free; this tax-free amount is still classed as having been "assessed" under the terms of any double-taxation agreement; the fact that HMRC have not taxed you on it is irrelevant.  If you then claim it back from the UK, it is no longer classed as having been "assessed" under the agreement and you will be assessed on it in Holland, where you'll pay 8.9% income tax on the £11,850.

I guess they don't do this in Austria.

Taxes are a very complicated issue and I always recommend that if you have complicated financial matters, then always speak to a tax consultant.

One other tax matter; the Dutch taxman is only interested in the previous 12-months, but they can ask you for documentation (bank statements, pay slips) going back 5 years; they are looking for patterns in income and looking to see if there is any evidence of you squirrelling away money in overseas banks.

Hope this helps.

The first time was Jersey, and the 2nd time was Austria. I went in when they did have tax offices for completely different things. I ended leaving with a cheque both times.