AOW, pension and tax in Bolivia: no treaties, but a source-based tax
The Netherlands and Bolivia have no tax treaty and no social security agreement in force. The Netherlands therefore keeps taxing your AOW and your pension, and a single person receives the AOW for married people. Bolivia only taxes income from a Bolivian source, so under the law a pension from the Netherlands falls outside it.
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If you live in Bolivia, the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and your pension. There is no tax treaty: Bolivia is not in the overview the Belastingdienst published in January 2026, not in NederlandWereldwijd's list, and the Netherlands is not among the countries with which the Bolivian tax authority lists a treaty. Bolivia itself only taxes income from a Bolivian source. A pension you receive from the Netherlands for work in the Netherlands does not fall under it according to the text of the law.
Three things to know in advance:
- Without a treaty the Netherlands has the right to tax, NederlandWereldwijd writes.
- There is also no social security agreement in force. As a single person you receive the AOW for married people.
- You keep the Dutch tax, without the Dutch contributions, and usually without tax credits.
| Income | Netherlands | Bolivia, if you live there |
|---|---|---|
| AOW | taxed; a single person gets the married-couple rate (50 instead of 70 % of the net minimum wage) | no Bolivian source |
| Company pension, ABP | taxed, as wages from former employment in the Netherlands | no Bolivian source |
| Annuity | taxed if the premiums were deductible | no Bolivian source |
| Interest and dividends from abroad | no Bolivian source | |
| Rent or wages in Bolivia | RC-IVA, 13 % | |
| Assets above Bs 30 million, worldwide | tax on large fortunes, 1.4 to 2.4 % |
Why does the Netherlands keep taxing?
NederlandWereldwijd puts it plainly: if there is no tax treaty with your country of residence, the Netherlands has the right to levy tax.
Article 7.2 of the Income Tax Act sets out what you then declare in the Netherlands: your pension as wages for work you did in the Netherlands (paragraph 2 under b), an annuity whose premiums were deductible (under d), and benefits from a Dutch public-law body such as the SVB (under e). Your company pension, your annuity and your AOW remain Dutch income; see also where your pension is taxed.
For "other countries", which include Bolivia, the Belastingdienst lists as deductions only the entrepreneur's allowance and the tax-free allowance in box 3. The tax credits are not listed. Have the net amount calculated.
How much AOW do you get?
The Netherlands and Bolivia did sign a social security agreement in La Paz in 2005. According to the treaty database, the Netherlands applied one article of it provisionally, from 1 February 2006 until 1 January 2012. Because of changes in legislation the agreement will not enter into force. So Bolivia is not among the 36 countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland that the minister listed in 2024 as treaty countries for AOW export.
Outside a treaty country the SVB pays the AOW at the married-couple rate (article 9a of the AOW). For a couple that changes nothing. A single person drops from 70 to 50 percent of the net minimum wage. A supplement for a younger partner does not exist outside the Netherlands either (article 8a).
Put old sources aside. Anyone reading about "the treaty with Bolivia" is reading about the period up to 2012. Calculate with the married-couple rate if you are single.
What does Bolivia tax?
The RC-IVA, the income tax for natural persons, applies under article 20 of Ley 843 to all income from a Bolivian source, whatever your residence or nationality. Article 21 defines that source: income from goods located or used in Bolivia, or from activities and events on Bolivian territory. The rate is 13 % (article 30), per month. A pension from the Netherlands for work in the Netherlands does not meet that definition. Have a Bolivian tax adviser confirm it for your own income.
What Bolivia does reach: rent from a home in Bolivia, wages for work in Bolivia and your own work as a self-employed person. See working in Bolivia and renting in Bolivia.
In addition, since 2020 there has been the tax on large fortunes (Ley 1357). You are resident for it if you spend more than 183 days in a twelve-month period in Bolivia. A resident pays on their assets in Bolivia and abroad if the net assets on 31 December exceed Bs 30,000,000. The rates run from 1.4 to 2.4 percent. Your household goods do not count.
Are you leaving before your AOW age?
Anyone who goes to live outside the Netherlands is usually no longer insured for the AOW, according to the SVB. Every year without insurance later gives 2 % less AOW. You apply for voluntary insurance within one year after you are no longer insured.
What else does the Netherlands keep hold of?
An annuity, pension entitlement or substantial interest travels with you under a protective assessment. Outside the EU and the EEA you do not get the deferral automatically: you apply for it in writing. The deferral runs for ten years at most.
You arrange your healthcare in Bolivia; see healthcare in Bolivia on the SUS from age sixty. Which residence route suits you is in the residence routes.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 1 of 5 of the journey, step 1.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bolivia or go straight to step 1.2 in the open plan.
What this means for your numbers →
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Belastingdienst — Treaty states income tax non-residents, January 2026 (Bolivia is not in it) — download.belastingdienst.nl
- NederlandWereldwijd — the treaty countries, and what applies if there is no tax treaty — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Servicio de Impuestos Nacionales — Bolivia's tax treaties, without the Netherlands — impuestos.gob.bo
- Income Tax Act 2001, article 7.2 — which Dutch income a non-resident taxpayer declares — wetten.overheid.nl
- Belastingdienst — deductions and credits if you live in another country — belastingdienst.nl
- Treaty database — the 2005 social security agreement with Bolivia, applied provisionally until 2012 and never in force — verdragenbank.overheid.nl
- Answers to parliamentary questions 2024Z02891 — the 36 treaty countries for AOW export, without Bolivia — open.overheid.nl
- General Old Age Pensions Act — article 9a, the married-couple rate outside the Netherlands, and article 8a, no supplement — wetten.overheid.nl
- SVB — every uninsured year 2 % less AOW, and voluntary insurance within one year — svb.nl
- Belastingdienst — the protective assessment and deferral outside the EU (2026 return notes) — belastingdienst.nl
- Servicio de Impuestos Nacionales — Ley 843, updated to 30 September 2026: the RC-IVA (articles 19 to 30) and the tax on large fortunes (Ley 1357) — impuestos.gob.bo
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