Income What the BRNSM says Article Occupational pension and annuity, periodic country of residence taxes; the Netherlands may withhold up to 15% of the gross amount 17, paragraphs 1 and 3 Commutation of pension or annuity not periodic: the Netherlands may tax without limit 17, paragraph 3 AOW and other social security benefits the Netherlands may tax, without ceiling 17, paragraph 2 Government pension (ABP) stays taxed in the Netherlands 18 Dividend from a Dutch company the Netherlands may withhold at most 15% 10, paragraph 2 Dutch real estate stays fully taxed in the Netherlands 6 Inheritance and gifts after emigration residence fiction of 5 years instead of 10 28 So the wage tax on your AOW simply continues, and on your occupational pension the Netherlands withholds 15% as long as it is paid periodically. A government pension affects civil servants, teachers in public education, police and defence; a mixed pension is treated per part.

Tax on Sint Maarten: the BRNSM, the 15% withholding tax and the island's own penshonado

Q: Why not the BRK but the BRNSM?

Since 1 March 2016 the Tax Arrangement Netherlands Sint Maarten (BRNSM) applies between the Netherlands and Sint Maarten. It is a bilateral Kingdom act: a law of the Kingdom that applies only between these two countries, just as Curaçao has its BRNC. The old BRK now applies only between the Netherlands and Aruba and between the Caribbean countries among themselves. Whoever copies Curaçao articles to Sint Maarten gets the details wrong, even though the two Kingdom acts closely resemble each other. There is transitional law, but only for whoever already lived on Sint Maarten before the act was introduced, with a pension that had already started. Every new emigrant falls fully under the articles below.

Q: What exactly is the penshonado?

Sint Maarten has, like Curaçao, a penshonado scheme . It is in articles 23B to 23D of the national ordinance on income tax. You request it with the tax return, and then the net income from foreign sources is taxed at 10%, surcharge points included . The alternative is a levy on a notional income of XCG 500,000 at the ordinary rates. Condition from article 23D What the law asks Residence before arrival at least 60 consecutive months abroad Age 50 or older at registration in the population register Registration within 2 months of registration, with the Inspector of Taxes Own home not let, owned, value on acquisition at least XCG 450,000, occupied within 18 months of registration No local wages no employment, profession or activities on the island, not by the partner either Filing late two years in a row late: the scheme lapses; the assessment is increased by half A minimum income is not in the law; the two-month registration period is . The penshonado regulates what Sint Maarten levies — it does not remove the Dutch withholding tax. Your AOW stays fully taxed in the Netherlands and your periodic pension keeps the 15% withholding. "Ten percent and nothing else" does not exist on this island; the real sum is Dutch levy plus Sint Maarten levy minus relief, and that is the work of a tax adviser who knows both systems.

Between the Netherlands and Sint Maarten it is not the old BRK that applies but the BRNSM: the Netherlands withholds up to 15% on your periodic pension and taxes your AOW without limit. On top of that the island has its own penshonado scheme of 10% — which does *not* remove the Dutch levy. Who taxes what, article by article, with the conditions and deadlines from the law.

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Written and checked by Auke on 14 October 2026, against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.

If you live on Sint Maarten, the Netherlands and Sint Maarten both tax your income. The penshonado, a fixed low rate on income from abroad, changes only the Sint Maarten part.

Whoever searches online for "tax Sint Maarten" finds two kinds of mistakes. Some sites still cite the old Tax Arrangement for the Kingdom (BRK). Others present the penshonado as if your pension is then taxed nowhere else. Both wrong.

Three things to know in advance:

The Netherlands withholds up to 15% on your periodic pension and taxes your AOW without limit.
Sint Maarten levies in brackets from 10 to 38%, with 25 surcharge points (a surcharge on the assessment).
The 10% penshonado is a favour from the island, not from the Netherlands.

Why not the BRK but the BRNSM?

Since 1 March 2016 the Tax Arrangement Netherlands Sint Maarten (BRNSM) applies between the Netherlands and Sint Maarten. It is a bilateral Kingdom act: a law of the Kingdom that applies only between these two countries, just as Curaçao has its BRNC. The old BRK now applies only between the Netherlands and Aruba and between the Caribbean countries among themselves. Whoever copies Curaçao articles to Sint Maarten gets the details wrong, even though the two Kingdom acts closely resemble each other.

There is transitional law, but only for whoever already lived on Sint Maarten before the act was introduced, with a pension that had already started. Every new emigrant falls fully under the articles below.

Who taxes what?

Income	What the BRNSM says	Article
Occupational pension and annuity, periodic	country of residence taxes; the Netherlands may withhold up to 15% of the gross amount	17, paragraphs 1 and 3
Commutation of pension or annuity	not periodic: the Netherlands may tax without limit	17, paragraph 3
AOW and other social security benefits	the Netherlands may tax, without ceiling	17, paragraph 2
Government pension (ABP)	stays taxed in the Netherlands	18
Dividend from a Dutch company	the Netherlands may withhold at most 15%	10, paragraph 2
Dutch real estate	stays fully taxed in the Netherlands	6
Inheritance and gifts after emigration	residence fiction of 5 years instead of 10	28

So the wage tax on your AOW simply continues, and on your occupational pension the Netherlands withholds 15% as long as it is paid periodically. A government pension affects civil servants, teachers in public education, police and defence; a mixed pension is treated per part.

How does Sint Maarten itself levy?

The national ordinance on income tax has six brackets: from 10% up to a taxable income of XCG 24,000 (Caribbean guilders), to 38% above XCG 106,000. A separate national ordinance puts 25 surcharge points on the assessment on top. Below a taxable income equal to the annual amount of the minimum wage nothing is owed. There is no sales tax like the Dutch VAT. Businesses do pay a turnover tax. What a job on the island costs in deductions is in working on Sint Maarten.

What exactly is the penshonado?

Sint Maarten has, like Curaçao, a penshonado scheme. It is in articles 23B to 23D of the national ordinance on income tax. You request it with the tax return, and then the net income from foreign sources is taxed at 10%, surcharge points included. The alternative is a levy on a notional income of XCG 500,000 at the ordinary rates.

Condition from article 23D	What the law asks
Residence before arrival	at least 60 consecutive months abroad
Age	50 or older at registration in the population register
Registration	within 2 months of registration, with the Inspector of Taxes
Own home	not let, owned, value on acquisition at least XCG 450,000, occupied within 18 months of registration
No local wages	no employment, profession or activities on the island, not by the partner either
Filing late	two years in a row late: the scheme lapses; the assessment is increased by half

A minimum income is not in the law; the two-month registration period is.

The penshonado regulates what Sint Maarten levies — it does not remove the Dutch withholding tax. Your AOW stays fully taxed in the Netherlands and your periodic pension keeps the 15% withholding. "Ten percent and nothing else" does not exist on this island; the real sum is Dutch levy plus Sint Maarten levy minus relief, and that is the work of a tax adviser who knows both systems.

Does the accrued AOW travel along in full?

Within the Kingdom the law has an exception to the export reduction: on Sint Maarten you keep your full AOW, including the single person's rate of 70%. Accrual does stop on the day of departure. Every missed year before your AOW age costs 2%, unless you apply to the SVB for voluntary continuation within a year of the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave). The SVB pays in euros on Sint Maarten; how that reaches your account is in banking and paying.

What does the Netherlands not let go of?

The Inheritance Tax Act pretends an emigrated Dutch citizen still lives in the Netherlands for ten years. Article 28 of the BRNSM shortens that fiction towards Sint Maarten to five years, for death and gifts.

The year of departure itself goes with an M return, the Dutch tax return for the year of emigration. An annuity or substantial interest (such as the shares in your own private company) travels with a protective assessment: a tax assessment the Netherlands records at departure and that you may have to pay later. Outside the EU you get no automatic deferral for it. Take this list to the tax adviser conversation from the step-by-step plan.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.3: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Sint Maarten or go straight to step 2.3 in the open step-by-step 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.

Tax Arrangement Netherlands Sint Maarten (BRNSM) — articles 10, 17, 18 and 28 — wetten.overheid.nl
National Ordinance on Income Tax Sint Maarten — article 24 (rate table) and articles 23B to 23D (penshonado) — lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl
National Ordinance on surcharges on income tax and profit tax Sint Maarten — 25 surcharge points — lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl
General Old Age Pensions Act, article 9a — full export within the Kingdom — wetten.overheid.nl
SVB — AOW outside the Netherlands — svb.nl

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