Box 3, your company and inheritance when you live nowhere
Deregistering from your municipality is not the same as emigrating for tax. Anyone who does not go to live somewhere else can remain a resident of the Netherlands. Box 3, your private limited company and inheritance tax all depend on that. What applies whether or not you are still a resident, and which questions to put to a tax adviser.
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If you deregister from your municipality but do not go to live anywhere else, you have not automatically left for tax purposes. The Dutch Tax Administration: "You emigrate if you go to live in another country permanently." Anyone who sails, works as a nomad or travels around the world usually does not. So you can remain a resident of the Netherlands. A lot depends on that: what you pay in box 3, what happens to your private limited company (bv), and when the Netherlands levies inheritance tax.
Three things to know in advance:
- Where you live for tax is decided by the Tax Administration based on the circumstances. Not by the municipality.
- If you are no longer a resident, only your Dutch property counts in box 3. But without a country of residence you have no tax treaty and no deductions.
- How it works out for you depends on your ties with the Netherlands. Put it to a tax adviser, or write to your tax office.
Have you emigrated if you deregister?
Not necessarily. The law says: "Where someone lives [...] is assessed by the circumstances." The Tax Administration looks at, among other things:
- the address where you spend most of your time;
- where your partner or family lives;
- where you work;
- where you are insured for medical costs, and where your GP is;
- clubs, and your children's school.
Anyone who is a bit of everywhere often keeps most ties with the Netherlands: a bank account, things in storage, family, a company, sometimes a house. We found no official rule for someone who lives nowhere. If in doubt, the Tax Administration itself advises: write a letter explaining your situation.
Two rules to know:
- Back within a year. Anyone who stops living in the Netherlands and comes back within a year, without having lived in another country in the meantime, has by law lived in the Netherlands the whole time.
- A ship with a Dutch home port. It counts as part of the Netherlands for the crew, but only as long as the boat really belongs there: where it starts and ends its voyages. A sea letter alone is not enough. What that means for the owner of a yacht is explained in state pension and healthcare when you live on your boat.
What do you pay in box 3?
Box 3 is the tax on your savings and investments. What falls into it depends on whether or not you are a resident.
| You remain a resident | You are no longer a resident | |
|---|---|---|
| What counts | all your assets, anywhere in the world | only Dutch real estate and rights to it, minus the related debts |
| Savings and investments | count | do not count, not even at a Dutch bank |
| Tax-free allowance 2026 | € 59,357 per person | € 59,357 per person |
| Reference date | 1 January | 1 January |
An example. You sell your house in the autumn and leave. If you are still a resident on 1 January, the proceeds in your account simply count. If you are no longer a resident and have no other property in the Netherlands, you pay no box 3 in the Netherlands. And without a country of residence, nowhere else either. That is only possible if you really are no longer a resident. So that is what it comes down to.
If you keep a house that you rent out, as a non-resident you pay box 3 on that house.
Why do you have no deductions and no treaty without a country of residence?
A non-resident only gets deductions and the tax part of the tax credits as a "qualifying non-resident taxpayer". For that, according to the Tax Administration, you must live in "an EU country, in Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba." Without a country of residence that is not possible.
If you have Dutch income, such as a pension, AOW or wages, as a non-resident you pay without those credits. A tax treaty and the 183-day rule do not help you either: they divide the right to tax between a country of residence and a country of work. More on this in digital nomad: tax and insurance.
What happens to your company?
A bv incorporated under Dutch law is "always" deemed to be established in the Netherlands for corporate income tax. Wherever you sail or travel yourself, your bv remains liable to Dutch tax.
For you as a shareholder, it depends on your own residence:
- If you remain a resident, nothing changes.
- If you are no longer a resident, that counts as a sale of your shares: a deemed disposal. If you have a substantial interest (usually: 5 percent or more of the shares), a protective assessment follows. That is an assessment that stays in place, and for a substantial interest it does not lapse. Explained in the protective assessment.
- The date is unclear. Without a new country of residence it is not clear on which day you stop being a resident. So an assessment can also come later, after the fact.
If you take a salary from your own bv, those wages remain taxed in the Netherlands. The law says that a job with a Dutch employer that you partly do outside the Netherlands "is deemed to have been performed entirely in the Netherlands". That is different if the wages are actually taxed in another country, but without a country of residence that usually does not happen.
Your bv also needs an address with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK). Which address the KVK asks of a director who lives nowhere is not stated on Ondernemersplein, the government website for entrepreneurs. Ask the KVK.
What if you or your parents die?
The Netherlands levies inheritance tax if the deceased lived in the Netherlands. Two situations:
- You die yourself. If you remain a resident, the Netherlands simply levies the tax. If you are no longer a resident, the ten-year rule applies: a Dutch national who "has left the Netherlands to live elsewhere" and dies within ten years is treated as if he still lived here. Without a new country of residence it is unclear when those ten years begin. There is usually no other country that also levies tax. Explained in inheritance tax after emigration.
- You inherit yourself. Then the residence of the deceased counts, not yours. The Tax Administration: you look at the situation of the deceased. If you inherit from a parent who lived in the Netherlands, you pay Dutch inheritance tax, even if you are on board and live nowhere.
Arrange a will and a power of attorney before you leave. Then someone in the Netherlands can act if you cannot be reached.
Which questions belong with a tax adviser?
A tax adviser who knows international situations can assess your own case. Take these questions with you:
- Do I still live in the Netherlands according to the Tax Administration, and which ties weigh most?
- From which date am I no longer a resident, if that happens at all? Can I get certainty about that in advance?
- Does a country where I stay or overwinter for months become my country of residence? What does that mean for the Netherlands?
- What happens in box 3 to the proceeds of my house on 1 January?
- Will there be a protective assessment on my bv, and when? What do dividends, wages and a later sale do?
- Do my wages from the bv remain fully taxed in the Netherlands?
- Will there be a protective assessment on my pension or annuity?
- When does the ten-year period for inheritance tax begin, and what does that mean for gifts to the children?
For your AOW and healthcare, the SVB is the place to go, not the tax adviser. Make sure the outcomes match.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.16: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey for a life on the road or go straight to step 2.16 in the open plan.
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.
- Dutch Tax Administration — you emigrate if you go to live in another country permanently, and what counts — belastingdienst.nl
- General State Taxes Act (AWR), article 4 — where someone lives, by the circumstances — wetten.overheid.nl
- Income Tax Act 2001, article 2.2 (back within a year), 4.16 (deemed disposal), 5.5 (tax-free allowance), 7.2(7) (wages) and 7.7 (box 3 for non-residents) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration, tax information 2026 — you live outside the Netherlands, the tax-free allowance and qualifying non-resident taxpayer status — belastingdienst.nl
- Corporate Income Tax Act 1969, article 2(5) — a company under Dutch law is always deemed established in the Netherlands — wetten.overheid.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — protective assessment on emigration — belastingdienst.nl
- Inheritance Tax Act 1956, article 1 (the residence of the deceased) and article 3 (ten years after leaving) — wetten.overheid.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — an inheritance from the Netherlands if you live abroad — belastingdienst.nl
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