AOW, pension and tax in Colombia: a treaty on paper, not yet in force

If you live in Colombia, the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW and your pension for the time being. There is a tax treaty, signed in The Hague on 16 February 2022. But the Dutch Tax Administration marks it "not yet in force" in its overview of January 2026, and wetten.overheid.nl reports that it enters into force on a date still to be determined. As your country of residence Colombia taxes your worldwide income, but leaves a pension free up to a high amount.

Three things to know in advance:

• As long as the treaty is not in force, the Netherlands has the right to tax, NederlandWereldwijd writes. Even once the treaty works, the Netherlands may keep taxing AOW and pension.
• You keep the Dutch tax, without the Dutch contributions, and usually without tax credits.
• Colombia is not among the countries with a social security treaty. As a single person you get the AOW for married people.

Income	Netherlands	Colombia, if you are a tax resident there
AOW	taxed; a single person gets the married rate (50 instead of 70% of the minimum wage)	pension: exempt up to 1,000 UVT a month
Occupational pension, ABP	taxed, no exemption to apply for	pension: exempt up to 1,000 UVT a month
Annuity (lijfrente)	taxed if the premiums were deductible	the law mentions renta vitalicia from abroad; have it checked whether your annuity falls under it
Own home in the Netherlands	Dutch income
Interest and dividends		taxed: worldwide income
Wages or rent in Colombia		taxed

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. A treaty that is not in force does not count.

Article 7.2 of the Income Tax Act determines what you then declare. It lists benefits from a pension scheme or annuity whose premiums were deductible, and benefits from a Dutch public-law body, such as the SVB. Your occupational pension, your annuity and your AOW therefore remain Dutch income; see also where your pension is taxed.

For "other countries" the Dutch Tax Administration lists as deductions only the entrepreneur's allowance and the tax-free allowance in box 3. The tax credits are not among them. Have the net amount calculated.

What changes once the treaty enters into force?

Less than you might hope. Under article 17 of the treaty, pensions and annuities from the Netherlands may be taxed in the Netherlands if their build-up was tax-facilitated here (paragraphs 1 and 3). The AOW and other social security benefits the Netherlands may always tax (art. 17(2)). Colombia then deducts the Dutch tax from the Colombian tax on the same income (article 21). The treaty applies from 1 January of the year after it enters into force.

What does Colombia do?

You become a tax resident if you are in Colombia for more than 183 days within any period of 365 days, counting the days of arrival and departure (article 10 of the Estatuto Tributario). A resident pays tax on income from Colombia and from abroad (article 9).

For pensions there is a generous exemption. Article 206 exempts a pension up to 1,000 UVT a month; anything above is taxed. Since the 2022 tax reform that expressly also applies to pensions obtained abroad. The DIAN wrote in 2024 that the limit applies per monthly payment. The UVT, the Colombian unit of account, is 52,374 pesos in 2026. The limit therefore lies at 52,374,000 pesos a month.

There is one condition that the law does not work out for foreign pensions: you must meet the requirements for receiving a pension under Ley 100 of 1993, the Colombian pension law. Have a Colombian tax adviser confirm how the DIAN applies this to a Dutch pension. Your NIT and return go through the RUT.