What changes financially when you move to Hungary?

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

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?

Mandatory registration certificate by day 93, and you pay for the address card in advance

If you stay longer than ninety days, you apply for the registration certificate for EEA nationals, which includes the Dutch. You do this by the ninety-third day after entry at the latest. It costs 1,000 forint and is valid indefinitely.

You bring your passport, proof of your purpose of stay, proof of healthcare cover and proof of accommodation. If you live on your own means, you prove your purpose of stay with bank statements and your pension decision. Since 1 February 2025 you also pay 5,700 forint per person in advance for the address card, and 2,000 forint for a child under fourteen. Without proof of payment the immigration office terminates the procedure.

apply: by day 93 after entry at the latest
fees: 1,000 forint, plus 5,700 forint for the address card

Source: OIF — the registration certificate for EEA nationals: mandatory for a stay of more than ninety days, by the ninety-third day at the latest, the documents, the fee of 1,000 forint and the indefinite validity; the separate fee for the address card of 5,700 forint is in the OIF notice of 1 February 2025 — 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, topping up is possible 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 uninsured year until your AOW age 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 are posted abroad, you can stay insured. Voluntary insurance with the SVB closes the gap, for ten years at most. But only if your application is in within one year of your compulsory insurance ending. You must also have been insured for at least a year directly before that. The premium depends on your income and is revised annually. That's why no amount is given here. Put that deadline 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. What they add up to for you is not shown here. With Hungary your income splits in two. Your occupational pension goes to Hungary and is tax-free there. Your AOW and your government pension stay Dutch. Which part of your pension mix falls where, and what an annuity or a lump sum does, nobody has written out for you. That is the work of a tax adviser who knows both systems. 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 Hungary See the destination

Every step on one list, free

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