AOW, pension and tax in Suriname: the Netherlands lets go — and Suriname picks up
The treaty of 1975 is the mirror image of most faraway destinations: company pension and AOW (the Dutch state pension) are taxable exclusively in the state of residence, Suriname — you apply for the wage-tax exemption, and Suriname taxes your worldwide income at up to 38%. The accrued AOW itself travels along at a hundred per cent. The articles, the export and the AOW gap of returnees.
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 Suriname, your AOW (the Dutch state pension) and your company pension are taxed in Suriname, not in the Netherlands. That is what the tax treaty of 1975 says. There is one exception: a government pension, such as an ABP pension (the pension fund of, among others, civil servants and teachers), stays taxed in the Netherlands.
With Indonesia and Panama the lesson is always the same: the Netherlands keeps levying. Suriname is the mirror image: here the Netherlands lets go. Whoever doesn't know that first pays twice. Then they discover that the Surinamese tax authorities come calling too.
This article reads the treaty as it is written.
Where are your pension and AOW taxed?
Article 19 puts it briefly: pensions in respect of past employment, paid to a resident of one of the states, are taxable only in that state. As a resident of Suriname your company pension therefore goes exclusively to Suriname.
And the AOW? That isn't a pension from employment. The treaty also has no separate article for social security. So the AOW falls under the residual article 22, the article for everything that falls nowhere else: other income is taxable only in the state of residence. Same outcome: exclusively Suriname. An annuity, as residual income, also follows the state of residence.
In practice this means you have to take action. Apply to the Belastingdienst for the wage-tax exemption, with a Surinamese certificate of residence (proof that you live in Suriname). Without that exemption the SVB and the pension fund simply keep withholding tax, and you only get it back through the tax return.
The exception is the government pension (article 20). That stays with the paying state, the country that pays the pension. So an ABP pension remains taxed in the Netherlands. It also works both ways: returnees with a Surinamese civil-service pension see that taxed by Suriname.
What does Suriname levy on your worldwide income?
Residents of Suriname are liable to tax on their worldwide income: your Dutch pension and AOW belong in the Surinamese return. After a tax-free allowance, the brackets run from 8% up to 38% above an annual income of SRD 234,000. At the current exchange rate an average Dutch pension quickly lands in that top bracket. Since 2023 Suriname also has a VAT of 10%, with zero rates for basic necessities.
| Taxable income per year, after the allowance of SRD 108,000 | Rate since 1 January 2024 |
|---|---|
| up to and including SRD 42,000 | 8% |
| above SRD 42,000 up to and including SRD 84,000 | 18% |
| above SRD 84,000 up to and including SRD 126,000 | 28% |
| above SRD 126,000 (so above SRD 234,000 of income) | 38% |
The state decree of 11 January 2024 sets the tax-free allowance at SRD 108,000 per year, or SRD 9,000 per month; in 2023 it was still SRD 7,500. These are the wage tax brackets, and income tax follows the same structure. Because the allowance is in Surinamese dollars and your pension arrives in euros, the exchange rate pushes you a little further into the table every year.
So the sum isn't "tax-free" but "relocated": what the Netherlands lets go, Suriname picks up — at its own rates, with its own filing obligation. Whoever doesn't file risks an additional assessment. Have a tax adviser who knows both countries guide the transition, and the M form for the year of departure is a standard part of it.
For assets, this applies. The treaty leaves Dutch property with the Netherlands (situs state, the country where the property is). On Dutch dividends the Netherlands keeps its withholding within the treaty ceiling. For the rest, the box 3 levy ends on emigration.
Does the accrued AOW travel along at a hundred per cent?
Suriname belongs to the countries with an enforcement treaty (Paramaribo, 17 August 2001): a treaty on taking benefits abroad. Because of it, the SVB exports the AOW in full, including the single person's rate of 70%. There is no fallback to the married rate, as in countries without a treaty. The Anw and large parts of the WIA are exportable too. What does not go along: the supplements, and the AIO top-up for whoever has an incomplete AOW.
That last point hits precisely the group this corridor appeals to most. Whoever lived outside the Netherlands for years has an AOW gap: a 2% reduction per uninsured year. That gap travels along to Suriname, now without the AIO safety net. The one-off payment of € 5,000 for elderly people of Surinamese origin applies only to whoever came to the Netherlands before 25 November 1975 and lived in the Netherlands for 25 years; whoever remigrates now doesn't close their gap with it. So work out the export amount honestly before the decision.
Whoever leaves before AOW age: the accrual stops on the day of departure, and the voluntary continuation with the SVB has a registration deadline of one year. The Surinamese AOV (from age 60) is separate from this: it requires ten years of uninterrupted residence with contribution liability and for most newcomers is not a factor of any significance.
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 Suriname 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.
- Wetten.overheid.nl — the treaty with Suriname (1975), articles 19, 20 and 22 — wetten.overheid.nl
- Wetten.overheid.nl — the enforcement treaty for the export of benefits (2001) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Belastingdienst Suriname — wage tax and the rates — belastingdienst.sr
- State Decree of 11 January 2024 (S.B. 2024 no. 2) — the tax-free allowance of SRD 108,000 and the brackets from 8 to 38% — belastingdienst.sr
- Belastingdienst Suriname — the VAT of 10% and the registration threshold of SRD 1,000,000 — belastingdienst.sr
- Belastingdienst — the emigration checklist, with the form for the wage tax exemption certificate — belastingdienst.nl
- SVB — the one-off amount for elderly people of Surinamese origin — svb.nl
Read on
- ArgentinaClosing the Netherlands5 min
AOW, pension and tax in Argentina: two treaties, and the AOW goes with you in full
The Netherlands has a tax treaty and a social security treaty with Argentina. As a result your AOW goes with you in full, also as a single person. The Netherlands taxes the AOW and an ABP pension; an ordinary occupational pension and an annuity are taxed only by Argentina. There, as a foreigner, you only become tax resident after twelve months.
Updated 15 October 2026
- ArubaClosing the Netherlands5 min
AOW, pension and tax on Aruba: what the Kingdom does arrange
Aruba is the mildest destination outside Europe for your old age: the accrued AOW goes with you in full, with the single-person rate and the allowance, and the 1964 Tax Arrangement for the Kingdom lets the country of residence tax pension from former employment. What stops (the accrual), what begins (the Aruban AOV), what Aruba charges, and where the sharp edges are: the protective assessment, government pension and lump-sum surrender.
Updated 14 October 2026
- AustraliaLodging5 min
AOW, pension and tax in Australia: everything moves to the state of residence — except your ABP
Australia is a treaty country, so your accrued AOW (the Dutch state pension) comes fully along — and the tax treaty from 1976 sends both your AOW and your company pension to the Australian tax office. Only a government pension stays Dutch. On the Australian side your pension counts as ordinary income (with a tax-free UPP part), and the Age Pension is a test, not an accrual.
Updated 14 October 2026