AOW, pension and tax in Belgium: the treaty and the € 25,000 threshold

Moving to Belgium is, fiscally, the mildest emigration on this site — and at the same time the most misunderstood, because almost everything that circulates about it is just slightly wrong. Three layers, from easy to sharp.

The AOW: fully exported, and sometimes the accrual simply continues

Within the EU the AOW (the Dutch state pension) is exported in full, including the single-person rate of 70% — no country-of-residence reduction, no treaty fuss. And the misunderstanding "your accrual always stops": that depends on where you work, not where you live. Whoever lives in Belgium but keeps working in the Netherlands remains socially insured in the Netherlands and simply keeps accruing 2% AOW a year. Only whoever also starts working in Belgium switches to the Belgian system — the AOW accrual then stops, and the Belgian retirement pension (pension age 66, from 2030 67) starts to build up in its place; on retirement the EU adds both careers together and each country pays its share.

The pension article: the € 25,000 threshold

Under the 2001 treaty the main rule is taxation in the country of residence: Belgium taxes your AOW and your occupational pension. But article 18 has a second paragraph that determines the practice: if the total of your Dutch pensions and annuities exceeds € 25,000 a year and Belgium does not tax them at the ordinary progressive rate, then the Netherlands may tax them after all. For most retired Dutch residents of Belgium with a serious pension that is not theory but reality — and on a lump-sum surrender before the commencement date the Netherlands taxes in any case, just as it does government pensions. What to take from this: before you move, have it calculated on which side of the border your pension will be taxed; the difference between Dutch and Belgian rates is too large to gamble on.

For the year of your move itself, the Belastingdienst's knowledge group has recorded a remarkably mild position: in the year of migration the € 25,000 threshold is tested against the pension from the foreign period only — not against the whole calendar year. Whoever moves in summer can therefore stay under the threshold that year while the annual total is well above it. (For the treaty with Germany the same knowledge group ruled precisely the other way round; the treaty texts differ just enough.)

Assets that stay behind in the Netherlands

Three rules from the same treaty for whoever keeps a house, shares or savings. A rented-out house in the Netherlands remains fully taxed in the Netherlands — income from immovable property belongs to the country where it is located (article 6). On dividends from a Dutch company the Netherlands, as source state, may withhold a limited amount: 15%, or 5% for a holding of at least 10% (article 10). And on interest the source state may keep at most 10% (article 11) — the rest is for Belgium, which taxes savings and investments in its own way anyway, per transaction and per return.

The new treaty: signed in 2023, still not in force

All sorts of things circulate about the treaty that the Netherlands and Belgium signed on 21 June 2023 — "from 2025", "pension taxed in the Netherlands from now on". The position in mid-2026: it has not yet been ratified — the Netherlands is aiming for parliamentary consideration in 2026, in Belgium six parliaments have to sign, and application therefore comes in 2027 at the earliest, possibly 2028. Until that day the 2001 treaty applies in full. And whoever is waiting for the new treaty for a better pension regime is waiting for nothing: the pension article remains substantively the same, including the non-indexed € 25,000 threshold.

The relief, the assessment and the helpdesk

Three reassurances to finish. You do not automatically lose the mortgage-interest relief: whoever has at least 90% of their income taxed in the Netherlands — the typical cross-border worker — qualifies as a non-resident taxpayer and keeps the relief for the Belgian owner-occupied home, with an annual income statement from the Belgian tax authority. The protective assessment on pension and substantial shareholdings is automatically deferred within the EU, without security. And for every cross-border question that remains there is a free helpdesk staffed jointly by both tax authorities: team GWO — call them before you sign anything irreversible.

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 Belgium.