AOW, pension and tax in Poland: the treaty was reversed in 2022
The treaty of 2002 placed your pension with Poland. The protocol that entered into force on 30 April 2022 reversed that: the Netherlands may tax your occupational pension and your AOW, and Poland credits the Dutch tax against its own. A wage tax exemption no longer exists here. And your government pension follows your nationality.
5 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 Poland, the Netherlands may tax your occupational pension and your AOW. Poland credits that Dutch tax against its own: it deducts it from the Polish tax.
Three things to know up front:
- That has been the case since 30 April 2022. Most Dutch-language pages on tax in Poland were written under the treaty of 2002, which placed your pension with the country of residence.
- Whoever reads those pages finds a favourable story: move to Poland, apply for the wage tax exemption and pay the low Polish rate. That is no longer true; there is no wage tax exemption here.
- Your government pension, such as ABP, follows your nationality.
What the amending protocol did
The treaty was signed in Warsaw on 13 February 2002. The amending protocol, published in Tractatenblad 2020, 119, entered into force on 30 April 2022 (Tractatenblad 2022, 23). The core is in article 18. That is now a source-state article: the country the pension comes from may tax it.
Paragraph 1: pensions and other similar remuneration, as well as annuities, arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in the first-mentioned State.
Paragraph 2: pensions paid and other payments made under the provisions of the social security legislation of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in the first-mentioned State.
May be taxed in the first-mentioned State. Under paragraph 3 a pension arises in the state where the contributions or entitlements qualified for tax relief. Your occupational pension therefore arises in the Netherlands, and your AOW is a Dutch social security payment. The Netherlands may tax both, without threshold and without condition. Paragraph 5 adds that the same applies to a lump sum.
What that means on the Dutch side
The Netherlands simply withholds wage tax. The Belastingdienst issues an exemption certificate only if the treaty with your country of residence allows it, and the treaty with Poland does not. Unlike with Spain, Portugal or Morocco there is therefore nothing to apply for. There is nothing to exempt, because the taxing right, the right to levy tax, lies with the Netherlands.
Whoever reads a page saying you have to apply for that exemption is reading a page from before the protocol.
And on the Polish side: a credit
Poland taxes alongside as the country of residence on your worldwide income. It avoids the double taxation with a credit. Article 23 paragraph 5: if a resident of Poland derives income that may be taxed in the Netherlands, Poland allows a deduction of an amount equal to the income tax paid in the Netherlands, limited to the part of the Polish tax attributable to that income.
A credit is something else than an exemption. In total you pay the higher of the two rates. If the Dutch levy sits above what Poland would charge, nothing remains in Poland. If it sits below, Poland tops up the difference.
The Polish yardstick, according to the tax authority itself: 12% up to 120,000 złoty, reduced by a fixed amount of 3,600 złoty. That comes down to no tax on the first 30,000 złoty. Above that it is 10,800 złoty plus 32% on the excess.
| Income | Treaty article | Netherlands | Poland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational pension, annuity | 18(1) | may tax (wage tax) | taxes, credits the Dutch tax |
| AOW | 18(2) | may tax | same |
| Lump sum | 18(5) | may tax | same |
| Government pension, Dutch national only | 19(2) | may tax | credit via art. 23(5) |
| Government pension, resident and Polish national | 19(2) | nothing | Poland only |
| Polish scale | — | — | 12% up to 120,000 zł minus 3,600 zł; above that 10,800 zł + 32% |
For most Dutch pensions the Dutch levy sits above the Polish one, and then the Polish return is a formality with nothing to pay. For low pensions it can work out differently because of the Polish deduction and the low first rate. Work it out on your amounts; don't assume it.
The government pension follows your nationality
For ABP and every other pension from past employment with the government a rule of its own applies, article 19 paragraph 2: the Netherlands may tax such a pension, but it is taxable only in the other Contracting State if the individual is a resident and a national of that State.
Whoever is only Dutch keeps their government pension with the Netherlands. Whoever holds Polish nationality alongside the Dutch and lives in Poland sees their government pension go exclusively to Poland. Then the Polish brackets apply, without Dutch levy. It is the one part of your income for which your passport decides the answer, and with this destination that is no rare case.
Your accrued AOW comes along in full
Apart from the tax: the SVB pays the AOW in Poland too, in euros. In a SEPA country that happens around the 24th of the month, with at most € 0.48 in bank charges per payment. Report your move to the SVB in time, with the date, your Polish address and your bank details.
Your further accrual, 2% per insured year, stops on the day of deregistration. Whoever leaves before AOW age can, according to the SVB, sometimes insure voluntarily.
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 Poland 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.
- Netherlands-Poland treaty for the avoidance of double taxation — articles 18, 19 and 23, text in force since 30 April 2022 — wetten.overheid.nl
- Wetten.overheid.nl — amendment history of the treaty (Trb. 2020, 119 and Trb. 2022, 23) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Podatki.gov.pl — the rates and limits of income tax (12% and 32%) — podatki.gov.pl
- Belastingdienst — application for the wage tax exemption certificate (only if the treaty allows it) — belastingdienst.nl
- SVB — payment of the AOW outside the Netherlands (SEPA, euros, costs) — svb.nl
- SVB — how AOW accrual works (2% a year, voluntary insurance) — svb.nl
Read on
- PolandOrientation5 min
Ulga na powrót: up to 85,528 złoty a year tax free for four years, Dutch citizens included
The Polish 'return relief' has that name, but it isn't only for Poles: whoever holds the nationality of an EU country and did not live in Poland in the three calendar years before the move pays no Polish income tax for four years on up to 85,528 złoty of salary or profit a year. Not on a pension: that falls outside it.
Updated 26 September 2026
- PolandOrientation5 min
Working in Poland: no permit, a degree that counts automatically, and ZUS in three steps
As a Dutch citizen you work in Poland without a permit, and your Dutch bachelor's or master's degree counts there by operation of law. Whoever starts out self-employed pays no social contributions for the first half year, then two years at a reduced rate, and only then the full amount. The health contribution runs from day one.
Updated 26 September 2026
- PolandOrientation5 min
Healthcare in Poland: from the CAK's S1 to the NFZ
Poland is a treaty country. With a Dutch statutory pension you apply for an S1 form at the CAK, register it at the NFZ office of your province, and are treated as if you were insured there. The Netherlands pays, you pay the treaty contribution, and Poland charges you no premium of its own. The form in your drawer is not yet insurance.
Updated 26 September 2026