AOW and pension in Norway: the Netherlands taxes, since 2014

Whoever reads about pensions in Norway comes across two stories: the old one (taxed where you live) and the one in force. The difference is a protocol from 2013, and it determines on which side of the North Sea you file your return.

The treaty: everything to the source state

Since the amending protocol — in force from the end of 2013 — article 18 allocates pensions, annuities and social-security benefits to the country they come from: the Netherlands taxes your AOW (the Dutch state pension), your occupational pension and your annuity. The residence-state taxation older Dutch guides write about is history for new cases. The government pension (ABP from public-sector employment) also remains Dutch — that was already so and stayed so.

For assets the pattern of the northern treaties applies: a rented-out house in the Netherlands remains fully taxed in the Netherlands (article 6), on dividends the Netherlands as source state may withhold 15% (article 10), and interest is exclusively for your state of residence — on Dutch savings interest only Norway taxes (article 11).

The Norwegian side: count in and credit

As a resident of Norway you declare your worldwide income, including the Dutch pensions the Netherlands already taxed; the treaty prevents you paying twice. How exactly the two systems bite into your mix — certainly in combination with Norwegian earned income or the PAYE scheme for newcomers — is the one conversation with a tax adviser that every corridor deserves.

The healthcare side: the factor at the maximum

Pensioners without work in Norway fall under the CAK treaty route: S1 form to Helfo, and after that the same co-payments and the same frikort apply as for every Norwegian. The country-of-residence factor for Norway stands at 1.0000 — capped, because the calculated factor is actually 1.4205: Norwegian healthcare is more expensive than Dutch. So you pay the full Dutch level, and the healthcare allowance can continue. And here too the deadline that dominates the planning of early retirees applies: from — expectedly — 1 November 2026, early retirement no longer gives access to the CAK route; whoever is registered before then keeps their rights.

What else the Netherlands doesn't let go of

The protective assessment on your pension and annuity accrual is a paper matter with Norway too: the automatic deferral applies to the EU and the EEA, and the Belastingdienst says explicitly that for Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein you don't have to provide security. You file the M return for the year of emigration online — keep your Dutch annual statements, because it only comes the year after.