AOW, pension and tax in the Dominican Republic: no treaty, so the Netherlands keeps taxing
The Netherlands has no tax treaty with the Dominican Republic. So the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW state pension, your occupational pension and your annuity, without exemption and usually without tax credits. The Dominican Republic does not tax a foreign pension, and those who fall under the law for pensionados also get that in writing. And outside a treaty country a single person receives the AOW for married people.
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If you live in the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands keeps taxing your AOW state pension and your pension. There is no double taxation treaty that changes this. The Dominican Republic itself does not tax a pension from abroad.
Three things to know in advance:
- The Dominican Republic is not in the Dutch Tax Administration's overview of treaty countries (January 2026), nor in the treaty database.
- So you do not become "tax-free". You keep the Dutch tax, without the Dutch contributions, and usually without tax credits.
- As a single person you receive the AOW at the married rate, the lower amount for married and cohabiting people.
| Income | Netherlands | Dominican Republic |
|---|---|---|
| AOW | taxed; a single person gets the married rate (50 instead of 70% of the minimum wage) | not taxed: foreign source, not an investment |
| Occupational pension, annuity | taxed, no exemption to apply for | pension not named as taxed; whether an annuity counts as a "financial gain" the DGII does not say; as a pensionado the declared income is exempt under Ley 171-07 |
| Government pension (ABP) | taxed | not taxed |
| Own home in the Netherlands | taxed in the Netherlands | — |
| Interest and dividends from abroad | — | taxed as a resident, only from the third year |
| Wages or rent in the Dominican Republic | — | taxed: Dominican source |
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.
The law determines what you then declare. Article 7.2 of the Income Tax Act names, for a non-resident taxpayer, payments from a pension scheme or annuity whose premiums were deductible here. It also names payments from a Dutch public body, such as the SVB and the ABP. Your occupational pension, your annuity and your AOW therefore remain Dutch income. There is no exemption to apply for; see also where your pension is taxed.
What falls away, and what comes back?
With your deregistration the national insurance contributions usually lapse. On your AOW and pension you then pay only tax.
There is a catch. Anyone living outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the BES islands is not a qualifying non-resident taxpayer. For "other countries" the Dutch Tax Administration lists only the business deduction and the tax-free allowance in box 3. The tax credits are not on the list. Have the net amount calculated.
What does the Dominican Republic do?
The Dominican Republic does not tax worldwide income. Article 269 of the tax code covers income from a Dominican source. Of foreign income it taxes only investments and financial gains. Since the tax law Ley 30-26 of June 2026, technical and advisory services have been added. A pension is not among them. The DGII, the Dominican tax authority, confirmed in 2025 that worldwide income is not taxed.
Anyone who becomes a resident pays tax on foreign income only from the third tax year (article 271). According to the DGII, a foreigner becomes a tax resident after 182 days.
As a pensionado or rentista under Ley 171-07 you get extra certainty. Article 10 exempts from income tax the pension or income you declared for that law. The DGII wrote in September 2024 that you do report those amounts, in the annual IR-1 return, by 31 March at the latest. Every exemption is first requested from the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda). The DGII only recognises what Hacienda has approved.
If you work in the country or rent out a house there, that is Dominican income. From 2027 income up to RD$ 480,000 a year is exempt, a limit that is adjusted for inflation every year; above that the rate rises from 15 to 27%.
The AOW blow for single people
Apart from tax: the Dominican Republic is not among the 36 countries with which the Netherlands has a social security treaty, as the minister listed in 2024.
Outside a treaty country the AOW is exported up to the married rate. For a couple the married rate changes nothing: that is already their amount. A single person drops from 70 to 50 percent of the minimum wage (article 9a of the AOW).
Are you leaving before your state pension age?
Then the move also affects your build-up. According to the SVB, anyone who goes to live outside the Netherlands is usually no longer insured for the AOW. Every year without insurance later means 2% less AOW, for each of you separately. A couple that leaves ten years before state pension age thus misses 20% each.
You can prevent that with voluntary insurance at the SVB. You apply for it within one year of no longer being insured.
Calculate your income test with the export amount, not with your current AOW statement. The threshold of 1,500 dollars looks at what you actually receive in the Dominican Republic.
What else the Netherlands does not let go
An annuity, pension entitlement or substantial interest travels with a protective assessment. Outside the EU and the EEA you do not get the deferral automatically: you request it in writing. For pension and annuity the Dutch Tax Administration usually asks for security, unless the entitlement is held by a Dutch insurer or pension fund, or by an insurer in another EU country, Norway or Iceland. After ten years remission follows on request, not for a substantial interest.
An own home in the Netherlands remains Dutch income; article 7.2 of the Income Tax Act names it in so many words.
The honest summary
You do not become tax-free. The Netherlands keeps the tax on your AOW and your pension, without credits. The Dominican Republic leaves your pension alone, and as a pensionado you have that in black and white. As a single person you lose twenty percentage points of AOW. Do the sums before you apply for the visa; the route is described in the residence routes.
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.
- Dutch Tax Administration — Treaty states income tax for non-residents, January 2026 (the Dominican Republic is not listed) — download.belastingdienst.nl
- NederlandWereldwijd — the treaty countries, and what applies when there is no treaty — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
- Wetten.overheid.nl — the treaties with the Dominican Republic (no tax or social security treaty) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Income Tax Act 2001, article 7.2 — which Dutch income a non-resident taxpayer declares — wetten.overheid.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — deductions and credits if you live in another country — belastingdienst.nl
- Answers to parliamentary questions 2024Z02891 — the 36 treaty countries for AOW export — open.overheid.nl
- General Old Age Pensions Act (AOW) — article 9a, the married rate outside the Netherlands — wetten.overheid.nl
- SVB — living outside the Netherlands, and 2% less AOW for every uninsured year — svb.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — income to be preserved and the protective assessment (2026 return notes) — belastingdienst.nl
- Ley 171-07, article 10 — a pensionado's pension is exempt from income tax (text published by the DGII) — dgii.gov.do
- DGII — notice 22-25 on which foreign income the Dominican Republic taxes (articles 269 and 271 of the Código Tributario) — dgii.gov.do
- DGII — ruling of 23 September 2024 on the exemption under Ley 171-07 — dgii.gov.do
- Ley 30-26 of June 2026 — the new text of article 269 and the scale from 2027 (text published by the DGII) — dgii.gov.do
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