What changes financially when you move to United States?
Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules United States and the Netherlands apply to your situation: which country may tax you, which schemes exist and how you get insured. With the source, so you can check it yourself.
This applies to everyone who moves. Tick above what applies to you, and the rest will appear.
Which country may tax
Which part of your income may your new country of residence tax?
America taxes your worldwide income
If you have a green card, or spend enough days in the US for the substantial presence test, you are a resident alien (a tax resident). America then taxes your worldwide income, including your Dutch savings interest, rent and BV profit.
Usually you do not pay twice. The treaty and the foreign tax credit prevent that: a credit for tax you have already paid in another country. Filing a return is required, though, and that is a different obligation from paying. The substantial presence test adds up your days in the US over three years, weighted. Anyone living there is almost always above it.
Source: IRS — the substantial presence test: 31 days in the current year and 183 weighted days over three years — checked on 2026-08-28
Read the whole storyA child born there is American, with a duty to file
If your child is born in the US, it is an American citizen. America taxes its citizens for life on the basis of nationality, even if the child returns to the Netherlands at the age of two.
In practice you only notice this with an investment account or a mortgage. Dutch banks must report American customers separately, under the American law FATCA. It is no reason not to give birth in America. But it is something to do knowingly, especially if you expect to return.
Where this comes from: Birthright citizenship and the lifelong filing duty from the knowledge article on American tax liability; the court cases around birthright citizenship are there too.
Read the whole storyHealth insurance
How do you get insured, and what do you pay for it?
Count American healthcare as a fixed family cost before you decide
American premiums and deductibles are of a very different order from Dutch ones, and going uninsured is not an option: a single hospital admission can cost a year's salary there.
If you are an employee, you are usually insured through your employer's plan. So weigh the healthcare terms in the conversation about your employment terms, not on arrival. If you come without an employer plan, find out in advance what the ACA marketplace or an international policy costs.
Where this comes from: Description from the knowledge article on AOW, healthcare and tax in America; premiums and deductibles differ by state, plan and family, so no amount is given here.
Read the whole storyWhat the Netherlands doesn't let go of
Which Dutch obligation travels with you?
Your AOW accrual stops; register for voluntary insurance within a year
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you a fixed share of your later AOW. Staying voluntarily insured is only possible if you register for it within one year of the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave).
Put that date in your diary before you go. If you work in the US, voluntary continued insurance is often not worth it: you build up Social Security there as soon as you work and pay contributions. If you do not work, it pays off more often. The voluntary insurance also has a maximum duration. The premium is revised every year, which is why no amount is given here.
Where this comes from: The one-year deadline and the trade-off from the knowledge article on AOW, healthcare and tax in America.
Read the whole storyChild benefit does not go with you to the US
Dutch child benefit stops on emigration: you receive it for the last time for the quarter in which you leave.
The rent allowance and the healthcare allowance lapse too. Factor that into your family budget before you go. With several children it makes a noticeable difference per quarter.
Where this comes from: The closing checklist from the knowledge article on AOW, healthcare and tax in America.
Read the whole storyFor inheritance and gifts the Netherlands counts you in for ten more years
The Inheritance Tax Act (Successiewet), the law on inheritance and gift tax, pretends an emigrated Dutch national still lives in the Netherlands for ten years. That applies on death and to gifts. The inheritance tax treaty with America leaves that period in place.
If you die within ten years of leaving, your heirs pay Dutch inheritance tax, as if you still lived here. What you give away in those years, to your children for example, falls under Dutch gift tax. So review your will and your gift plans before you leave. For a gift in the first year after you leave, this even applies to everyone who lived in the Netherlands, also without Dutch nationality. The treaty only covers estates and lets the Netherlands tax on the basis of your nationality. If you lived in America for at least seven of the ten years before your death, the Netherlands credits the American tax in full.
- deemed residence
- 10 years
This is not tax advice
These are the rules that apply to your situation. What they add up to for you is not shown here. For AOW (the Dutch state pension) and occupational pensions, America is better arranged than its reputation suggests. But it also taxes your worldwide income, and adds two reporting duties alongside. What that means for your situation is for a tax adviser who knows both systems to work out. Take this list to that conversation: then you know which questions to ask.
Still deciding between countries? Put the rules of two or three countries side by side
Then actually doing it
Knowing which rules apply is the first half. The second is applying them in time: in the right order, without missing a deadline, and with your documents at hand.
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for United States: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for United States change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.