AOW and pensions in Austria: the treaty of 1970
The tax treaty with Austria is the oldest and the friendliest of the classic pension destinations: your occupational pension is taxed exclusively in Austria — no threshold amount, no withholding at source, and no renegotiation in sight. What does and doesn't travel with you, and why the country-of-residence factor here nudges up against one.
6 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
If you live in Austria, your occupational pension is taxed only in Austria. Your AOW and a government pension stay Dutch.
Three things to know up front:
- The treaty was signed in Vienna on 1 September 1970, and precisely that age is the gift. Whoever lays the pension rules of several emigration countries side by side sees something special here: your occupational pension is "taxable only in that State" there.
- In 2026 Austria charges nothing up to € 13,539 and above that brackets of 20 to 50%.
- Austria doesn't appear in the letter to Parliament on the treaty negotiations. So this arrangement holds.
The occupational pension: exclusively to Austria
Article 19 of the treaty is from a vanished generation. Pensions "in consideration of past employment" paid to a resident of Austria are taxable only in that State. That is called exclusive residence-state taxation: only the country where you live may tax.
The article doesn't mention an annuity. Via the residual article (article 22), for income that falls under no other article, that comes out at exactly the same place: taxable only where you live. There is no threshold amount and no source-state taxation (tax in the country the pension comes from).
You ask the Belastingdienst with the form Aanvraag vrijstellingsverklaring to stop the withholding. For that you need a BSN and proof that you are a tax resident of Austria (the Verklaring belastingplicht woonland). Your pension provider then pays out gross, and Austria taxes at its own brackets.
Because nobody in Austria withholds tax on that pension, you file a return there yourself. If your total income is above the Finanzamt's limit (€ 14,769 for 2026), that return is compulsory. You file it by 30 April on paper or 30 June through FinanzOnline, in the year after the tax year. You put the pension on form L1i.
| Taxable income 2026 | Marginal rate |
|---|---|
| up to € 13,539 | 0% |
| € 13,539 – € 21,992 | 20% |
| € 21,992 – € 36,458 | 30% |
| € 36,458 – € 70,365 | 40% |
| € 70,365 – € 104,859 | 48% |
| € 104,859 – € 1,000,000 | 50% |
| above € 1,000,000 | 55% (up to and including 2029) |
The bracket limits move every year with two thirds of inflation; for 2026 that was 1.733%.
And the regime holds. In the letter to Parliament on the treaty negotiations of 2026, Austria doesn't appear. That is different for Portugal and Romania, with which negotiations are ongoing, and for Sweden, with which an agreement at official level exists. So this is not a closing window but an open door.
Which pension stays taxed in the Netherlands?
Two exceptions complete the picture. The AOW (the Dutch state pension) falls under article 20, paragraph 4: payments under a social security system may be taxed in that other State. So the Netherlands may tax it, and does so via wage tax.
The Netherlands may also tax government pensions (the ABP part from government employment), under article 20, paragraph 2. They only go exclusively to Austria if you are both a resident and a national there.
| Income | Treaty article | Who taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational pension | 19 | Austria only |
| Annuity | 22 | Austria only |
| AOW | 20(4) | the Netherlands may tax |
| Government pension (ABP) | 20(2) | the Netherlands, unless resident and national of Austria |
| Rent from a Dutch house | 6 | the Netherlands |
| Dividend from a Dutch company | 10 | the Netherlands up to 15%, Austria gives a credit |
| Savings interest | 11 | Austria only |
The export of the AOW itself runs through the SVB. Arrange DigiD and the Berichtenbox before departure. After that the municipality no longer passes on your changes, and you report changes of address and bank details yourself.
Accrual does stop. Whoever wants to continue insurance voluntarily applies for it from two months before departure to at most one year after the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave).
Assets that stay behind in the Netherlands
For whoever keeps a house, shares or savings, three rules from the same treaty apply:
- A rented-out house in the Netherlands remains taxed in the Netherlands: income from immovable property may be taxed in the state where it lies (article 6).
- On dividends from a Dutch company the Netherlands as source state may withhold at most 15% of the gross amount. The lower rate of 5% in article 10 applies only to a company holding at least 25% of the capital, not to private individuals.
- Interest is the quiet surprise: interest from the Netherlands is "taxable only in that other State". On Dutch savings interest only Austria taxes (article 11).
What does healthcare via the CAK cost?
Pensioners without work in Austria fall under the CAK treaty route. With the S1 form you register with the Austrian health fund, the ÖGK. It applies its own rules to pensions with a foreign component.
The treaty contribution follows the country-of-residence factor: the ratio between average healthcare costs in the country of residence and in the Netherlands. Since 2023 that factor is a three-year average, and it is never higher than 1. For Austria that is 0.9177 in 2026, the average of 0.9115, 0.9290 and 0.9126. Austrian healthcare costs almost the Dutch level. You see that back in the contribution and in the healthcare allowance, which is calculated with the same factor.
One deadline dominates the planning of early retirees. Expected from 1 November 2026, an early pension or bridging benefit no longer gives a new applicant the right to CAK health insurance in an EU country. Only AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA and Wajong still count then. Whoever is already a client keeps their rights.
The rest of the fiscal move
The protective assessment on your pension and annuity accrual is an assessment the Belastingdienst imposes on emigration but does not collect straight away. Within the EU it is a formality: automatic deferral of payment, no recovery interest, and after ten years without surrender remission on request. If you do surrender within those ten years, you have to pay it.
How that works out for your mix of AOW, pension and assets is exactly the one conversation with a tax adviser that this move deserves.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Austria.
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.
- Tax treaty Netherlands-Austria 1970 — articles 6, 10, 11, 19, 20 and 22 — wetten.overheid.nl
- Letter to Parliament on tax treaty negotiations 2026 — Austria does not appear in it — rijksoverheid.nl
- BMF — Steuertarif und Steuerabsetzbeträge, the 2026 tax brackets — bmf.gv.at
- BMF — the Arbeitnehmerveranlagung, when the return is compulsory and the deadlines — bmf.gv.at
- BMF — a foreign pension without Austrian wage tax, and form L1i — bmf.gv.at
- Staatscourant 2025, 38064 — the country-of-residence factors for 2026 and the three-year average — zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl
- CAK — early retirement and the closure from November 2026 — hetcak.nl
- CAK — moving with a Dutch pension or benefit — hetcak.nl
- ÖGK — pensioners and abroad — gesundheitskasse.at
- SVB — your AOW outside the Netherlands (DigiD, reporting changes) — svb.nl
- SVB — applying for voluntary insurance (2 months before to 1 year after the end of compulsory insurance) — svb.nl
- Belastingdienst — application for the wage tax exemption certificate — belastingdienst.nl
- Belastingdienst — protective assessment on emigration — belastingdienst.nl
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