AOW, pension and the 7% scheme: fifteen years — unless you were with the ABP

Yes, with a Dutch occupational pension and AOW you can pay 7% tax in Greece on all your foreign income for fifteen years. Two conditions apply:

• You become a tax resident of Greece: for tax purposes, you live there.
• Your application is in on time.

There is one sharp exception. An ABP pension from government service (the pension fund of, among others, civil servants and teachers) stays taxed in the Netherlands.

First: which country may levy?

That is governed by the tax treaty between the Netherlands and Greece. The answer differs per type of pension.

Article 19 — pensions. Pensions in respect of past employment are taxable only in the state of residence, the country where you live. So your occupational pension is taxed in Greece as soon as you are a tax resident of Greece. A non-periodic payment (a lump sum) may be taxed by the source country, the country the pension comes from.

Your AOW. The treaty doesn't mention social security separately. As "similar remuneration" your AOW falls under article 19, otherwise under article 23 (other income). Both articles allocate the taxing right exclusively to the state of residence, so to Greece.

Article 20 — government service. A pension paid by or out of funds of the Dutch State may be taxed by the Netherlands: an ABP pension from government service stays taxed in the Netherlands. So for civil servants, teachers in public education, police and defence little changes fiscally. Only whoever is also a Greek national falls outside it.

Read article 25 alongside it. Greece may include income that the Netherlands may tax, and then deducts the Dutch tax on it. Read together, the two articles leave room for different interpretations. If you receive a Greek assessment on your ABP pension that you believe is wrong, you can put your case to the Greek competent authority within three years (article 27, mutual agreement).

Income	Treaty	Who levies when you live in Greece
Occupational pension	art. 19(1)	Greece only
Lump sum from a pension	art. 19(2)	the Netherlands too
AOW	art. 19 or 23	Greece only
ABP pension from government service	art. 20(2) and art. 25	the Netherlands, unless you are also a Greek national; if Greece includes it, it deducts the Dutch tax

Then: the 7% scheme of article 5B

For the part that is taxed in Greece, article 5B of law 4172/2013 stands ready. Whoever moves their tax residence to Greece can opt for a flat tax of 7% on all their foreign income: one fixed rate, however high the income. That includes rental income, dividends, interest and capital gains from abroad.

The conditions:

• You were not a Greek tax resident in five of the last six years.
• You move your residence from a country with which Greece cooperates on tax matters; the Netherlands meets that.
• The scheme runs for fifteen tax years, and you can leave it any year; it is a choice, not a trap.

The heaviest condition: if in any tax year you don't pay the full amount, you fall outside article 5B from that year on and are taxed on your worldwide income.

Article 5B moreover leaves the tax treaties intact. What the Netherlands may levy as source state on your house, your dividends or your interest here continues to apply. See what the Netherlands keeps levying despite the 7%.

Greek brackets since tax year 2026	Rate
up to € 10,000	9%
the brackets above that	20%, 26% and 34%
€ 40,000 to € 60,000	39%
above € 60,000	44%
Article 5B, on all your foreign income	7%, fifteen tax years

An occupational pension of € 45,000 comes under the brackets to well over € 10,000 in tax before the tax reduction of € 777 comes off; under article 5B it is € 3,150. Before 2026 the table jumped above € 40,000 from 36% straight to 44%.