What changes financially when you move to Thailand?
Tick where your income comes from. You then see which rules Thailand 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; you can repair it within one year
This is about building up your AOW, not about the payment. What you have built up until you leave stays yours. But as soon as you are 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 at the moment of departure. Whoever keeps working in the Netherlands or is posted abroad can stay insured. Voluntary insurance with the SVB closes the gap, for ten years at most. That is only possible if your application is in within one year of your compulsory insurance ending. And you must 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 that 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 storySurvivor's cover stops; you can repair it within one year
As soon as you live outside the Netherlands, you are no longer insured for the survivor's benefit. The export treaty does not change that: it makes sure a running benefit is paid out, but it does not keep your insurance alive. You must apply to stay voluntarily insured within one year of the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave).
If something happens to you, your partner cannot claim a benefit without that voluntary insurance. Work out what the cover is worth and take the decision consciously. In any case, do not let the deadline pass unnoticed: after that year the door is closed.
- application period for voluntary continuation
- within 1 year of the end of compulsory insurance (usually departure)
The SVB now reaches you only digitally and may ask for proof of life
Arrange DigiD and the Berichtenbox, your digital government mailbox, before you leave. The SVB sends its post there, and there is no counter in Thailand.
The SVB may also ask you for proof of life from time to time: proof that you are still alive. Respond quickly. If it does not arrive, payment of your AOW can be suspended. And from Thailand you repair that more slowly than it goes wrong.
Where this comes from: The practical pointers from the knowledge article on AOW, pension and tax in Thailand.
Read the whole storyFor inheritance and gifts the Netherlands counts you in for ten 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. That applies on death and to gifts.
If you die within ten years of leaving, your heirs pay Dutch inheritance tax, as if you still lived here. What you give away in those years, to your children for example, falls under Dutch gift tax. So review your will and your gift plans before you leave. For a gift in the first year after you leave, this even applies to everyone who lived in the Netherlands, also without Dutch nationality.
- deemed residence
- 10 years
This is not tax advice
These are the rules that apply to your situation. What they add up to is not shown here. Thailand has no treaty route for healthcare. For the AOW there is an export treaty: your accrued AOW simply comes along, including the single person's rate. Since 2024 Thailand taxes the foreign income you bring into the country. And a change is on its way. Today the tax treaty of 1975 applies. On 21 November 2025 a new treaty was signed. Once it is in force, the Netherlands gets the right to tax your pension, your annuity and your AOW. What the rules together mean for your situation is for a tax adviser who knows both systems to work out. 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 Thailand: 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 Thailand 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.