What changes financially when you move to Bulgaria?

Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules Bulgaria 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.

Everything about AOW, pension and tax in Bulgaria →

Where does your income come from?

You can tick more than one. A pension from several sources is the rule rather than the exception.

AOW (Dutch state pension)You receive AOW, or will start receiving it during your move.Occupational pensionPension built up with an employer outside government.Government service pensionABP years as a civil servant, state-school teacher, police or defence.Salary from work thereYou will be employed in the country itself.Self-employed work thereYou will work there as a freelancer or business owner.Rent, dividend or interestIncome from assets held outside your new country of residence.Annuity or substantial interestAn annuity policy, or 5% or more of the shares in a Dutch bv.

This applies to everyone who moves. Tick above what applies to you, and the rest will appear.

What you have to show

Which financial requirements does the country set before you may stay?

Apply for the residence certificate within three months, with proof of address, cover and means

If you stay longer than three months, you apply for the certificate of long-term residence within three months of entry. You do this at the Migration Directorate. It costs 3.58 euros and is valid for up to five years.

You bring your passport, proof of your address, proof of healthcare cover and proof of means. As proof of address you use a title deed, or a declaration from your landlord certified by a notary. As cover, pensioners use the S1: the European form with which the Netherlands keeps paying for your healthcare. As proof of means you use your pension decision or bank statements. The certificate carries your personal number. The bank, the health fund and the traffic police ask for it. As a card it costs 15.34 euros.

apply: within 3 months of entry
fees: 3.58 euros, as a card 15.34 euros

Source: Egov.bg — residence of EU citizens longer than three months: the application within three months of entry, the documents and the proof of address; the fees of 3.58 and 15.34 euros are in Tariff 4 of the Ministry of the Interior, article 45a, since 1 January 2026 — checked on 2026-09-11

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What the Netherlands doesn't let go of

Which Dutch obligation travels with you?

Your AOW accrual stops on departure; it can be repaired within one year

This is about the accrual, not the payment. What you've built up until you leave stays yours. But as soon as you're no longer insured in the Netherlands, you build up nothing more. Every year until your AOW age then costs 2% of your later AOW. If you already receive AOW, this no longer applies.

For most emigrants the insurance ends at the moment of departure. If you keep working in the Netherlands or your employer posts you abroad, you can stay insured. Voluntary continued insurance with the SVB closes the gap, for ten years at most. Two conditions apply. Your application must be in within one year of your compulsory insurance ending. And you must have been insured for at least a year directly before that. The premium depends on your income and is revised every year, so no amount is given here. Put that date in your diary before you go.

reduction per uninsured year: 2% of your AOW
application for voluntary insurance: no later than 1 year after your insurance ends
duration of voluntary insurance: 10 years at most

Source: Algemene Ouderdomswet (General Old Age Pensions Act) — article 13(1) (2% reduction per uninsured calendar year), article 35(1) (voluntary insurance, ten years at most) and article 36(1) (application no later than one year after the compulsory insurance ends) — checked on 2026-09-19

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For 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.

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.

deemed residence: 10 years

Source: Inheritance Tax Act 1956 (Successiewet), Article 3(1) and (2) — the deemed residence of ten years, and of one year for gifts — checked on 2026-10-18

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This is not tax advice

These are the rules that apply to your situation, not their outcome. With Bulgaria the outcome for pension and AOW is unusually simple: the Netherlands taxes, Bulgaria doesn't, and there is nothing to exempt or to credit. So with a tax adviser you discuss the rest here: work, profit, rent and assets. And whether commuting between two countries is wise for you. Take this list to that conversation.

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.

Start your step-by-step plan for Bulgaria See the destination

Every step on one list, free

Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Bulgaria: 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 Bulgaria 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.