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Moving to the Netherlands: Your First-Year Tax Guide

Everything to do for tax in your first year in the Netherlands, in order: what changes the day you become a resident, registration, DigiD and health insurance, the 30% ruling window, the M-form for your arrival year, why Box 3 usually starts the year after, foreign accounts and treaties, and the pitfalls that cost first-year expats money.

← Tax GuideExpats and international12 min readUpdated 18 Oct 2026
All guides in this part

1Your first year in a nutshell

ToolYour own deadlinesEnter your arrival date and get every registration, insurance and tax deadline in order.

2Your first year, step by step

  1. Within 5 days of moving in
    Register at the municipality

    With your passport and proof of address. You get your BSN.

  2. Right after
    Apply for DigiD

    The activation letter takes about five working days. See DigiD and BSN.

  3. Within 4 months of starting work
    30% ruling application

    By your employer, to start from your first working day.

  4. Within 4 months of starting work
    Dutch health insurance

    Compulsory if you live or work here; cover is backdated.

  5. Next spring
    The M-form

    Your return for the arrival year, due by 1 July.

  6. 1 January of year two
    Box 3 reference date

    Your worldwide savings and investments on this date count.

3What changes when you become a resident

Worldwide income

Dutch income tax applies to your income from anywhere in the world.

Payroll tax

Your Dutch employer withholds wage tax from your salary.

Treaties apply

Tax treaties decide which country taxes what. See tax treaties.

Foreign accounts

They must be declared; the Belastingdienst receives information from abroad automatically.

4The M-form for your arrival year

Before you arrivedAfter you arrived
StatusNon-residentResident
Taxed in the NetherlandsOnly Dutch income, if anyWorldwide income
Box 3Only Dutch real estateUsually nothing in year one (reference date 1 January)

5Box 3 in your first year

Box 3 is based on what you own on 1 January. If you arrived during 2026, you were not yet resident on 1 January 2026, so your worldwide savings and investments are usually first taxed in the 2027 tax year, based on 1 January 2027.

6Common first-year pitfalls

Do

  • Register promptly at the municipality
  • Get the 30% ruling application in within four months
  • Declare foreign bank accounts and investments
  • Ask for a provisional assessment if you expect to owe tax

Avoid

  • Assuming your home-country return covers your Dutch obligations
  • Filing a P-form for your arrival year
  • Waiting with health insurance: you pay the premium backdated anyway
  • Missing benefits you may be entitled to in the first months

7Your first-year tax checklist

Tick these off0 of 7 done

8Common questions

Do I still need to file in my home country?

Often yes, for the part of the year before you left or for income still earned there. The treaty prevents double tax.

Is my partner also a resident?

If your partner lives here with you, yes, with their own tax position.

What about my pension at home?

Payments you receive are usually taxed here once you are resident; contributions to a foreign scheme are rarely deductible.

Where do I find all expat tools?

On the expat tax hub.

Sources

This article is based on these official pages. If anything here differs from them, the official page is right.

Ready to run your own numbers?

Expat tax calculators
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