For pensioners
Retiring to Greece
Greece lets anyone who moves their tax residence pay 7% on all their foreign income for fifteen years. For one person that is worth tens of thousands of euros, for another exactly nothing — the difference lies in which pension you have. That is the first question; after it comes a chain of counters that is strict about order.
The treaty does assign your AOW and your company pension to Greece, but pensions from government service stay taxed in the Netherlands — anyone who was with the ABP gets little out of the 7%. And 'seven per cent on everything' is too rosy for the rest as well: on a rented-out house in the Netherlands the Netherlands keeps the full right to tax, on dividend and interest from a Dutch source a limited part.
Healthcare runs through the S1 from the CAK, but not through the ordinary counter: you slot into EOPYY via e-EFKA and with an EU-AMKA, not with the AMKA from the KEP. After that you pay a contribution per prescription — and something counts that you never notice as a tourist: how far away the nearest hospital is.
The chain itself: AFM, a home with a contract the landlord has declared electronically with AADE, the registration certificate at the police, AMKA. Anyone who turns it round stands at the counter every time without the paper they ask for. Your car can come along without registration tax, with a relocation certificate from the Greek consulate that you collect before you leave — unless it is Euro 1, 2 or 3, because then it does not get into the country.
Still deciding between countries? To the pension comparer
Your money: for whom the 7% works, and for whom it doesn't
AOW, pension and the 7% scheme: fifteen years — unless you were with the ABP
Greece lets whoever moves their tax residence pay 7% on all their foreign income for fifteen years. The treaty with the Netherlands does indeed allocate AOW and occupational pension to Greece — but article 20 keeps pensions from government service in the Netherlands. For one person the scheme is worth tens of thousands of euros, for another exactly nothing.
Updated 27 August 2026
Your house, your dividends and your interest: what the Netherlands keeps levying despite the 7%
The 7% scheme covers your foreign income on the Greek side. On the Dutch side a taxing right remains: in full on a rented-out house in the Netherlands, and to a limited extent on dividends and interest from a Dutch source. "Seven per cent on everything" is therefore too rosy.
Updated 27 August 2026
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 27 August 2026
Your Dutch pension abroad: what comes along, and who levies
The AOW (the Dutch state pension) travels fully to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a treaty from 2001. Your company pension too, but *where* you pay on it depends on the tax treaty, and the exemption you arrange yourself.
Updated 11 September 2026
Your healthcare — EOPYY through the S1
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 16 August 2026
Healthcare in Greece: EOPYY, the co-payment and the distance that is invisible on holiday
With an S1 from the CAK you join EOPYY, the Greek health fund — but via e-EFKA and with an EU-AMKA, not with the ordinary AMKA from the KEP. After that you pay a contribution per prescription, and something counts that you never notice as a tourist: how far away the nearest hospital is.
Updated 28 August 2026
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 28 August 2026
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 11 September 2026
The chain, in the right order
AFM, AMKA and the βεβαίωση: the Greek order that ends at the police
Greece doesn't ask for a residence permit, but it does ask for a registration certificate — and unlike in Spain or Italy, that comes from the police, not the municipality. The chain before it is strict in order: AFM, a home with a registered contract, certificate, AMKA. Whoever reverses it stands at the counter every time without the paper they ask for.
Updated 28 August 2026
Living and renting in Greece: the contract only counts once the landlord declares it
A Greek rental contract is only a usable piece of evidence once the landlord has declared it electronically with AADE — and without that proof you get no registration certificate from the police. Besides that: what rents do between Athens and the interior, what changes on an island, and what ENFIA costs if you buy.
Updated 23 August 2026
Buying a house in Greece: first the tax, then the notary — and only done at the land registry
In Greece you pay the transfer tax of 3% before the notary may execute the deed, and you are only truly the owner once the deed is registered with the Ktimatologio — which via the digital counter akinita.gov.gr can now be done in one working day. For whoever is really going to live there, there is an exemption up to € 200,000 to € 250,000, with a two-year settlement requirement. After that come the E9 return and the annual ENFIA.
Updated 28 August 2026
Your car to Greece: first the Euro standard, then the paper from the Netherlands
Greece waives the registration tax in full if you move — but only with a transfer-of-residence certificate that you have to collect from the Greek consulate in the Netherlands, before departure. And there is a harder limit that can cut everything off: cars with Euro 1, 2 or 3 are not allowed into the country.
Updated 23 August 2026
Want to walk this journey with the order watched — AFM before the rental contract, the relocation certificate before you leave, your Dutch affairs closed on the right day? The Greek step-by-step plan is ready for you.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Choose your destination and we'll send you the departure guide: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that at most one mail a month: first the question where your plans stand, then now and then one thing that fits the time of year or your country. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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