AOW, AOV and tax on Saba: the full AOW travels with you, the BES rate taxes it, and the AOV has a Windward supplement

For the SVB and the Tax Administration Saba is abroad; for constitutional law it is the Netherlands. Yes, your AOW travels with you; what it costs you is the accrual that stops, two percent a year; and the trap lies in two clocks in your year of departure. What makes Saba different from Bonaire is small but measurable: the Caribbean AOV has a supplement for the Windward Islands, and the property tax lacks Bonaire's surcharges.

The accrual stops, the benefit travels first class

The SVB says it in one sentence: the Caribbean part of the Kingdom is regarded as living outside the Netherlands. From your departure you therefore accrue no more AOW. In its place begins the AOV, the basic pension of the Caribbean Netherlands: insured between your fifteenth and your 65th, pension age 65, and a reduction of 2% for every calendar year you were not insured. The act names the amount per island: for Saba USD 1,481 a month, plus the Windward Islands supplement of $ 90, so that a full AOV pension on Saba in 2026 is $ 1,571 a month, against $ 1,576 on Bonaire. The partner allowance is $ 731 on Saba, higher than Bonaire's $ 623. Voluntary continuation of the AOW is possible if you were insured in the Netherlands for at least a year directly before departure, and only if you apply to the SVB within one year of leaving.

The benefit side is the windfall. The export decree says that whoever lives on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba is entitled to old-age pension "as if he lived in the Netherlands": the full AOW, including the single person's rate that falls away in most non-treaty countries.

Who taxes, and at what rate?

Between the European and the Caribbean Netherlands there is no tax treaty but the Tax Arrangement for the Country of the Netherlands. Article 2.9 allocates pensions, annuities and similar remuneration to the country of residence; article 2.10 keeps government pensions with the paying country. Your AOW and your company pension are therefore taxed on Saba, an ABP pension from government service remains Dutch. The BES rate is the same on all three islands and is on one page of the Tax Administration Caribbean Netherlands.

Item (2026)	Amount or rate
Tax-free allowance	USD 21,956
Elderly supplement on top of the tax-free allowance	USD 1,678
Income tax up to and including USD 53,198 taxable sum	29.4%
Income tax above USD 53,198	38.4%
AOV premium	25% over at most USD 38,390
AWW premium	1.3% over at most USD 38,390
Employee's share of health insurance	0.5% over at most USD 38,390
Full AOV pension on Saba	$ 1,571 a month, including $ 90 Windward Islands supplement
AOV partner allowance on Saba	$ 731 a month, up to a joint income of USD 23,388
AOV reduction per uninsured year	2%
Property tax second home on Saba	0.7%; on Bonaire 0.91% through surcharges

Mortgage interest is deductible only at 29.4%, even if your income falls in the 38.4% bracket. Assets have their own surprise: there is no box 3. Only real estate that is not your main residence falls under the property tax, and that is 0.7% of the value on Saba because the island, unlike Bonaire, levies no surcharges; how that works out at a purchase is in buying a house on Saba.

The sharp edge: the preserving assessment

Saba lies outside the European Union, and so the preserving assessment on your pension and annuity accrual falls under the regime for non-EU countries. The Tax Administration is clear: you get automatic deferral only on emigration to an EU or EEA country; otherwise you apply for the deferral yourself, and for a pension scheme or life insurance that is not with a recognised insurer in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland you must provide security, for example with a bank guarantee. The fixed rules remain: ten years without surrender, then remission on request. For most emigrants it remains paperwork; whoever has a large pension or a substantial shareholding works this out with a tax adviser before departure.

Two clocks in the first year. The voluntary AOW insurance must be applied for within one year of departure, and the preserving assessment comes after the return for your year of departure. Whoever leaves both until everything on the island is settled misses the first and is startled by the second.

What do you arrange if you already receive AOV or AOW?

You apply for the AOV six months before your 65th at the RCN unit SZW, also digitally; whoever is late gets at most a year retroactively. Whoever leaves Saba again later keeps the AOV for the insured years, but sends a proof of life from the Netherlands twice a year. The income tax return does not run through DigiD but through MijnCN, with a helpdesk on Saba on +599 416 3941. Whoever takes a job also reads what the island lacks in safety net; the place of these sums in the journey is on /saba.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Saba or go straight to step 2.2 in the open plan.