Hungary · administrative route
Emigrating to Hungary
As an EU citizen you may be in Hungary for ninety days without conditions, and after that Hungary names the day: by day 93 at the latest you're registered, with an address card you pay for in advance since 2025. Alongside, a pension picture you have to read carefully: a treaty from 1986 that places your occupational pension with Hungary — where a treaty pension is tax-free — while your AOW stays Dutch instead. And one expensive surprise: a registration tax on the car, without exemption for relocation goods. This page shows how it really works.
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- Kind of journey
- Administrative — registration by day 93 at the latest
- The clocks
- Day 93 for the certificate, 60 days for the car
- Note
- Occupational pension tax-free in Hungary; AOW stays Dutch
Last updated: September 2026
The journey
Five phases, from day 93 to the hectare limit
A route with few counters and two clocks you start yourself: day 93 for the registration certificate, sixty days for the car. Plus a treaty from 1986 that cuts the pension in two — the occupational pension to Hungary, where it's tax-free; the AOW and the government pension to the Netherlands — and a registration tax on the car that makes this journey more expensive than Poland or Czechia.
- 1
Orientation
Day 93, a treaty that cuts the pension, and a language without relatives
Ninety days free, then mandatory registration — by day 93 at the latest. In this phase you learn what the treaty of 1986 does: your occupational pension goes to Hungary and is tax-free there as a treaty pension, your AOW the Netherlands may tax as the paying state, and the government pension stays Dutch. Healthcare runs through the CAK to the one health fund. And you explore the region in January: Budapest is a different world from a village at Lake Balaton, and Hungarian is related to no neighbouring language.
- 2
Closing the Netherlands
The wage tax exemption for the occupational pension — not for the AOW
The familiar list with one lesson you mustn't turn around: apply for the wage tax exemption for your occupational pension, because that goes exclusively to Hungary, and do not apply for it for your AOW, because the Netherlands may tax that. Whoever applies for everything gets a rejection or an additional assessment. Further: the S1 at the CAK six weeks before departure, the SVB in time, and the eight-month rule as a real option for whoever has a house at Lake Balaton.
- 3
The move
No customs, but the most expensive step: the registration tax on the car
By road, two days, without customs and without an inventory. The car is where Hungary differs from its neighbours: a registration tax on every car brought in, without exemption for relocation goods, since 1 March 2025 by power, environmental class and age — and sixty days to start the origin check, on pain of seizure and a fine of four hundred thousand forint. Work it out before you leave. The pet needs only chip, jab and the EU pet passport.
- 4
Registration in Hungary
First pay for the address card, then the certificate, then the S1, then the TAJ card
The order is fixed. First transfer 5,700 forint per person for the address card, because without proof of payment the immigration office terminates the procedure. Then the registration certificate, by day 93 at the latest, for 1,000 forint, valid indefinitely. Then the S1 to the health insurance department of the kormányhivatal, where you get a TAJ number and a TAJ card — the same care as a Hungarian insured person, without Hungarian contribution. And only then the bank, the digital access to the authorities and the GP in your district.
- 5
Arrival
The licence stays, the house is free — the land is not
An EEA driving licence doesn't need exchanging. A home you buy as an EU citizen without a permit, with four percent transfer tax and a lawyer who draws up the deed. But agricultural land is an act of its own: whoever is not a registered farmer may own at most one hectare in total, and every purchase passes the agricultural authority with a pre-emption right for the neighbours. So a village house with a large orchard is sometimes not a house. After five years you apply for permanent residence.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Hungary journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.3 of your plan
Know where you'll pay tax, and apply for the exemption — for the right part
- Lead time
- one good conversation, then an application of weeks
- Costs
- advisory hours — depending on your situation
The treaty places your occupational pension exclusively with Hungary. For that, apply to the Dutch tax authority for the wage tax exemption with a Hungarian certificate of residence — and do not apply for it for your AOW, because the Netherlands may tax that as the paying state. Whoever applies for the exemption for everything gets a rejection or an additional assessment.
On the Hungarian side your occupational pension is nyugdíj: tax-free, no return, at most as information in the return if you file one for another reason. Your AOW Hungary exempts because the Netherlands may tax it. What remains for the flat tax of fifteen percent is an annuity that doesn't come from employment, rent, and work — and that's the conversation with your tax adviser.
The government pension stays Dutch, unless you're a resident and a national of Hungary.
This is step 2.3 of 28. The other 27 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
See all 28 steps for HungaryWhat it costs
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 1.700 – € 4.800
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 1.600 – € 4.200
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 45 – € 200
- De verhuizing
- € 50 – € 250
- De eerste maanden
- € 1.600 – € 4.400
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Registration certificate and address card€ 15 – € 35
- Certificates, model forms and the sworn translator(estimate)€ 30 – € 200
De verhuizing
- The journey(estimate)€ 50 – € 250
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 1.600 – € 4.200
Deposit and first rent, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you're still running double. Budapest rents towards Western European level; Lake Balaton out of season and the countryside sit far below that. Count the winter in: heating an old village house is a real item.
- Bank, phone and the first counters(estimate)€ 40 – € 200
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 5 to 8% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 12.500 to € 20.000.
Four percent transfer tax on the purchase price up to a billion forint, the lawyer who in Hungary draws up the deed and often puts the money in an escrow account, and the entry in the land registry. As an EU citizen you need no permit for a home.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
The exception is land. Whoever is not a registered farmer may own at most one hectare of agricultural land in total, and every purchase of agricultural land passes the agricultural authority with pre-emption rights for farmers from the area. A village house with a large orchard behind it is therefore sometimes not a house but land — have the classification in the land registry checked before you sign.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 11 September 2026.
Your complete, personal cost picture — with your route, your documents and your deadlines — you get in Vertrekklaar.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Hungary, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsThe departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Hungary: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Hungary really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Read on
The knowledge base on Hungary
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
Orientation
- 3 min
AOW, pension and tax in Hungary: the occupational pension taxed nowhere, the AOW in the Netherlands instead
The treaty with Hungary from 1986 places your occupational pension exclusively with Hungary, and Hungary declares a treaty pension to be nyugdíj — and nyugdíj is tax-free there. Your AOW works exactly the other way round: the Netherlands may tax it as the paying state, and Hungary exempts it. The government pension stays Dutch. Whoever applies for the wage tax exemption for the wrong part gets an additional assessment.
Updated 11 September 2026
- 3 min
Healthcare in Hungary: from the CAK's S1 to the TAJ card
Hungary is a treaty country. With a Dutch statutory pension you apply for an S1 form at the CAK, have it registered at the health insurance department of the kormányhivatal, and get a TAJ number with a TAJ card — the proof with which you receive the same care as a Hungarian insured person, without a Hungarian healthcare contribution. There is one health fund, so nothing to choose; but a GP, and that one is tied to your district.
Updated 11 September 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 2 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 27 August 2026
- 2 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
- 2 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 2 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 3 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
- 2 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 August 2026
- 10 min
Partner comes along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you come along without a job of your own. Administratively you're then no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and when "just staying registered" is allowed after all.
Updated 9 September 2026
- 2 min
Stopping allowances on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Housing allowance, healthcare allowance, childcare allowance and child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run gets a reclaim months later — this is what you arrange per allowance.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 3 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 9 August 2026
- 6 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
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