The leaving-Netherlands checklist
These are the evidence categories the Belastingdienst weighs, in the order it will look for them. Download the same list as a one-page PDF — no email needed.
Download the free checklist (PDF) ↓
Your new country
- Lease or proof of housingNames, address, dates and the living arrangement.
- New driver's licenceIf issued and applicable to your situation.
- Residence or immigration documentThe visa or permit that applies to your status — and whether it is permanent.
- Local bank statementEvidence of an account in your new country.
Netherlands
- BRP deregistration at your gemeenteMandatory if you will be abroad more than 8 months in a year. Do it from 5 days before departure up to the day you leave, and ask for an international bewijs van uitschrijving.
- Sale, lease or letting of your Dutch homeExplain what happened to it and whether it remains available to you; a retained property stays taxable in the Netherlands.
- Zorgverzekering and toeslagenYour Dutch health insurance ends on the moving date — report the move to your insurer and stop zorgtoeslag, huurtoeslag or kinderopvangtoeslag you are no longer entitled to.
- DigiD, pension fund and SVBActivate the DigiD app with ID-check and SMS before you go. Tell your pension fund and the SVB; AOW accrual (2% per insured year) stops while you live abroad unless you take out voluntary insurance.
- Car, bank and voorlopige aanslagReport vehicle export to the RDW, move bank accounts to a non-resident address, and adjust any monthly voorlopige aanslag.
Keeping a Dutch bank account does not by itself make you a resident. See the circumstances the Belastingdienst weighs ↗
You prepare here.
You file with the Belastingdienst.
There is nothing to 'submit' on departure — but there are four things the Belastingdienst expects you to do, and they have deadlines. This app does not connect to Mijn Belastingdienst or DigiD.
1. Deregister and pass on your foreign address
Deregister from the BRP at your gemeente in the 5 days before you leave. The Belastingdienst takes the emigration date from that. Later address changes abroad go via the online form (about 5 days) or by post to Belastingdienst/Kennis- en Expertisecentrum Buitenland, Postbus 2891, 6401 DJ Heerlen (about 10 working days).
2. File the M-form for the year you leave
Online in Mijn Belastingdienst or on the paper M-formulier, by the date in your aangiftebrief (often 1 May). Report the emigration date, the resident and non-resident periods, and the te conserveren inkomen for any substantial interest, pension, lijfrente or KEW.
3. Deal with the conserverende aanslag
Deferral is automatic if you move to an EU or EEA country. Anywhere else you must request it in writing, and the Belastingdienst may ask for security such as a bank guarantee, mortgage or pledge.
4. Keep filing as a non-resident, and keep the file
If you keep Dutch property, a Dutch pension or a substantial interest you file the non-resident C-form each year. The Belastingdienst can revisit residency years later. Keep the evidence, your bewijs van uitschrijving and every notification you sent.
Belastingdienst: emigration checklist ↗
The checklist PDF is free. For $27 we compile your answers and documents into a structured report; for $497 a member of our team reviews it and writes an opinion memo.
Get my departure report — $27 → Free checklist ↓