AOW, pension and tax on Aruba: what the Kingdom does arrange

For almost every destination outside Europe this site tells the same gloomy story: single AOW recipients fall back to the married rate, and the Netherlands keeps taxing. Aruba is the exception — and it pays to know precisely why.

The AOW goes with you in full — by decree, not by treaty

The BEU Act restricts AOW export outside treaty countries, but within the Kingdom the matter is arranged by order in council: whoever lives on Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the BES islands is "entitled to old-age pension as if he lived in the Netherlands". That means: the single-person rate of 70% stays, and the partner allowance travels along too. No treaty needed, no exceptions — it simply says so in the decree.

What does stop is the accrual: for the AOW (the Dutch state pension), the Caribbean part of the Kingdom counts as abroad, so every year on Aruba costs 2% of your later AOW. The voluntary insurance with the SVB repairs that (apply within one year of departure, ten years at most) — and alongside it something new begins: as a resident you accrue Aruban AOV, also 2% a year, with a pension age of 65 (since 2024 — older sites still say 62). Whoever emigrates at forty thus ends up with two partial state pensions that together come surprisingly close to one full one.

The tax side: an arrangement from 1964 that works out well

Between the Netherlands and Aruba the Tax Arrangement for the Kingdom (BRK) of 1964 still applies — Curaçao and Sint Maarten got new bilateral arrangements in 2016, Aruba not yet (negotiations are under way). Under the BRK your AOW is taxed on Aruba and your periodic occupational pension too — the country of residence taxes. After arrival, apply for the exemption statement for Dutch wage tax, otherwise the Netherlands withholds first and you have to claim it back. Two exceptions: government pension remains Dutch, and whoever surrenders their pension as a lump sum instead of drawing it periodically can still run into Dutch taxation.

The Aruban side is mild: a tax-free allowance of Afl. 30,000, a zero band up to almost Afl. 35,000 and above that rates of 21 to 52 percent. Since 2026 pensioners moreover no longer pay AZV premium on the first Afl. 30,000. And as a resident of Aruba you keep — a special feature within the Kingdom — the tax part of the Dutch general tax credit on your Dutch income.

For assets that stay behind in the Netherlands the BRK works like this: a rented-out house remains fully taxed in the Netherlands (the country where the property is located taxes), on dividends from a Dutch company the Netherlands may withhold 15%, and on interest at most 10%.

The sharp edges

Three things fall the other way. The protective assessment on pension, annuity and substantial-shareholding assets has no automatic deferral outside the EU: you apply for it and provide security. The mortgage-interest relief lapses — Aruba lies outside the circle of countries for qualifying non-resident taxpayer status (the BES islands do lie within it; don't confuse them). And whoever emigrates for the tax climate is on the wrong island: Aruba has no penshonado scheme — that 10% regime is Curaçao's. The scheme Aruba does have is solidity: low entry rates, a fixed dollar peg and an AOW that simply arrives in full.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines monitored. See the whole journey to Aruba.