What changes financially when you move to Sint Maarten?
Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules Sint Maarten and the Netherlands apply to your situation: which country may tax you, which schemes exist and how you get insured. With the source, so you can check it yourself.
This applies to everyone who moves. Tick above what applies to you, and the rest will appear.
What the Netherlands doesn't let go of
Which Dutch obligation travels with you?
Your AOW accrual stops on departure, repair is possible within one year
This is about the accrual, not the payment. What you've built up until you leave stays yours. But as soon as you're no longer insured in the Netherlands, you build up nothing more. Every year until your AOW age then costs 2% of your later AOW. If you already receive AOW, this no longer applies.
For most emigrants the insurance ends on the day of departure. If you keep working in the Netherlands, or are posted abroad, you can stay insured. Voluntary insurance with the SVB closes the gap, for ten years at most. That only works if your application is in within one year of your compulsory insurance ending. You must also have been insured for at least a year directly before that. The premium depends on your income and is revised every year. That is why no amount is given here. Put the application deadline in your diary before you go.
- reduction per uninsured year
- 2% of your AOW
- application for voluntary insurance
- no later than 1 year after your insurance ends
- duration of voluntary insurance
- 10 years at most
Source: Algemene Ouderdomswet (General Old Age Pensions Act) — article 13(1) (2% reduction per uninsured calendar year), article 35(1) (voluntary insurance, ten years at most) and article 36(1) (application no later than one year after the compulsory insurance ends) — checked on 2026-09-19
Read the whole storyFor inheritance and gifts the Netherlands counts you in for five more years
The Inheritance Tax Act (Successiewet), the law on inheritance and gift tax, pretends an emigrated Dutch national still lives in the Netherlands for ten years. Towards Sint Maarten the BRNSM shortens that period to five years, for death and for gifts.
Do you want to pass capital on to your children? Then you plan here with a shorter clock than elsewhere outside the EU. After those five years the Netherlands no longer taxes gifts and estates of residents of Sint Maarten.
- deemed residence
- 5 years instead of 10
Source: BRNSM, Article 28 — the shortened deemed residence for inheritance and gift tax — checked on 2026-08-30
Read the whole storyYour Dutch basic insurance ends on deregistration
Your basic insurance stops on the day you deregister. Your new cover only begins once your policy or your ZV registration is complete.
The order is fixed. Without the Declaration by Operation of Law, no registration at the Census Office. Without registration, no ID card. And without an ID card, no insurer or employer can do anything for you. Bridge the gap with insurance you arrange before departure. Also ask your Dutch municipality for the international proof of deregistration, because the Census Office wants to see it.
Where this comes from: The registration chain from the knowledge article on the Declaration by Operation of Law; the cover hangs on the policy or the employer's notification, and those on the chain.
Read the whole storyThis is not tax advice
These are the rules that apply to your situation, not what they add up to for you. With Sint Maarten, two tax systems apply at once. Under the BRNSM (the tax arrangement between the Netherlands and Sint Maarten) the Netherlands retains a part, and the island levies its own tax as well. The penshonado scheme can tip the outcome. How that works out for you is the work of a tax adviser who knows the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Take this list with you to that conversation. Then you know which questions to ask.
Still deciding between countries? Put the rules of two or three countries side by side
Then actually doing it
Knowing which rules apply is the first half. The second is applying them in time: in the right order, without missing a deadline, and with your documents at hand.
Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Sint Maarten: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Sint Maarten change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.