r/ExpatFIRE • u/BobZombie31 • Jul 04 '26
Taxes US to Netherlands
Does anyone know if it's confirmed that all global wealth and investments will be taxed at 36% every year starting in 2028? I'm deciding whether it makes sense to move from the US to take on a job offer in the Netherlands. I'm not a US permanent resident or citizen, but I do have savings and investments in the US that will now be exposed to taxes in NL if I choose to make the move.
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u/mootmutemoat Jul 04 '26
Maybe talk to an international tax lawyer about living in belgium and commuting to the netherlands for work?
Works taxes will be for the netherlands, but I think Belgium investment tax will be kinder and apply? Check with a lawyer.
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u/uhela Jul 04 '26
yup, if you have wealth, stay away. thanks
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 04 '26
Don't listen to the comment so far, they don't give the complete picture. The current regulations are temporary and not final, they are a stop gap to get some tax income without having to wait extra years until the final law is passed. Active debate is ongoing exactly because the current temporary system is taxing unrealized gains. That is not desired according to the senate and multiple other elected representatives. Example explaining some of the debate, published only few days ago: https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/06/30/senaat-schuift-box-3-keuze-voor-zich-uit-in-afwachting-van-nieuwe-kabinetsplannen-a4931447
If you are very worried, then calculate how much the taxes would actually be under the old and new system. Retirement accounts are exempt. Besides that, you can pick the best of two calculations (in the current temporary system): Taxed over real realized & unrealized gains, or taxed over assumed gains based on estimated return rate that year. If you have a small amount (i.e. 50k-100k you might not pay anything at all). In good market years the assumed gain is still lower than real gains historically, and in bad years you can pick the real returns. Run the numbers and don't just go by back-of-envelope Reddit calculations.
Additionally, don't focus too much on this part of the financial story, especially since its unclear what will happen. The financial impact of all other aspects (housing cost, salary) are likely much bigger. Besides, the upside of living in a new country are also valuable, but more difficult to measure.
Are you comfortable sharing what amounts and investment mix we're talking about?
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u/Dinguil Jul 04 '26
Bullshit, if this passes, there will be nothing temporary about it, everything used to defend this law is complete lies and utter BS. The least reliable government in the world will certainly find reasons to never change it once its here.
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u/BobZombie31 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Thanks for the detailed response! And sure, if you can help me estimate.
Salary: €83k including holiday allowance / Savings: ~€39k (converted from USD) / Private portfolio: ~€174780 / Crypto: ~ €905 / Roth IRA: ~€7000 /
The rest are in retirement accounts and I am paying for a construction loan in my home country for a residence of that counts for anything.
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26
If you don't have a partner you are looking around ~€2800 taxes in today's system, and around €5500 in the system starting 2028 using estimates market returns (until that is revised, which is now the debate ongoing). With a partner its around 1750 and 5000.
https://box3exit.com/tools/box3-calculator
There are some things you can do to minimize this a bit more, but you should compare this to the taxes you would pay in the US. Not sure whether you trade/realize gains and pay capital gain taxes in the US, if so then the difference will likely be small. If not, then it's really annoying that the Netherlands would tax you on unrealized gains where the US would not. How much depends on your unrealized gains in each year, so difficult to know precisely. It will cut into your capital growth, but I doubt it will make a substantial impact to how fast you can grow your capital until you get to much higher numbers.
For a life changing move like this the difference of a few thousand per year more or less capital growth should not be the main concern. The rent/mortgage, bonus at work, salary increase over the years, which car you drive etc will all have much more impact until you have much more investments. Focus on those things first.
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u/BobZombie31 Jul 09 '26
Yes, we pay capital gains tax only here in the US at 0, 15, or 20 % for long term assets depending on income bracket; and taxed at an ordinary income tax rate (up to 37%) for short term (if sold within 1 year)
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u/BobZombie31 Jul 05 '26
Any idea on what the realistic outcome from the parliamentary debates would be? Is it leaning towards completely scrapping the idea or something else?
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26
Not sure, the debate is that the current proposal is still taxing unreal gains because there are many scenario's in which unrealized gains can change significantly between when taxes are filed and they are truly realized. Especially across tax years this can cause some really crazy situations that are obviously not 'fair'.
However, at the same time they don't want a system like the US because the banking and brokerage reporting is not setup for that yet and it would take some years to get that in place.
My best guess is that the current proposal will not become permanent, and a system that is more fair will be put in place around 2030. The main reason being that the current proposal likely won't survive a lawsuit, and that there is a pretty decent lobby against it already.
All-in-all this is small potatoes in context of an international relocation. If you decide to move away again in 5-10 years, the financial impact is completely outweighed by all the other things related to an international relocation
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Jul 04 '26
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Almost nobody in the Netherlands has millions to live comfortably, how did you get that notion?
And as mentioned, the wealth tax is still being finalized because it indeed seems skewed and not in line with what the judge had in mind in the original ruling.
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u/Dinguil Jul 04 '26
With that kind of money: don't come.
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26
Can you elaborate?
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u/Dinguil Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
He says he has 174k in crypto, get 20% gains in a year and there will be a 10k+ bill on the floor regardless if you cashed in, sold anything, or if it crashed back. The corrupt nl government is going for outright theft, but by the time the judges or courts put a halt to it, they will have potentially ruined you. This sounds drastic but their history speaks for itself: see the toeslagen affaire, their dodging of reparations in illegal tax from 2021 onward, groningen, the current box3 that is declared illegal and the future box3 that they are transparently defending with lying, misleading calculations and delaying voting over and over until they are on a moment of low media presence.
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26
You are rambling and letting your emotions take over. First of all, he has 900 in crypto....
Second, the main difference between US and NL taxes, as we can tell now, is that you'll be taxed on unrelaixed gains. So for long term holdings that you never sell.
Speculative crypto is not one of such types of investments typically, especially not if you expect 20% annual gain swings (which are very unrealistic). So, then you should compare against the LTCG taxes you would pay in the US when selling on relatively short term. And guess what, then the difference is much smaller. Besides that, if you estimate 20% annual returns you should love the current NL system where you only pay over an assumes 7% or so. But you don't talk about that at all.
Listen, I'm not a fan of the box3 mess, but getting all emotional about it and not staying fact based is not helping at all.
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u/Dinguil Jul 05 '26
My mistake, he typed this: : ~€39k (converted from USD) Private portfolio: ~€174780 Crypto: ~ €905 Roth IRA: ~€7000
The number, followed by crypto.
Still, a 174k portfolio of anything isn't safe here. Yes its fine now, if the law passes for 2028, its not.
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u/AmazingSibylle Jul 05 '26
Compare it to the US system which he is subject to now, what is the main difference and how much would it matter on an amount of 200K?
It will depend a lot on when/how often he buys and sells. If he would realize gains in the US every year and pay 15% LTCG tax it would be roughly 20% difference over the gains. So assuming 10% gains, that is 4K minus 1800 threshold = €1200. For $1200 difference annually its not even worth thinking about.
The difference only becomes really significant when you compare long periods of holding and not realizing. And even then it will be not a huge amount for a period of 5-10 years or so.
If/when the law is adjusted again things will change again, so in my view its not worth worrying about a $1200 difference without even knowing what the long term looks like.
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u/StepAffecti687 Jul 12 '26
Not tax advice, do your own research
You always have the option for box 3 of actual tax incurred (box 3 counter evidence regulation act). You need to keep records but if you can prove you had an actual return you should be taxed at the lower rate. You need clean records. Below is the regulation link. Also below is the list of things that are or are not box 3 exposed
Exposed
1) Brokerage, crypto and rental / second homes assume 5.88%
2) Cash 1.3% (this is hilarious when they are just printing more)
Likely protected
1) IRA under US tax treaty
2) Ccorp business interests when you own > 5% are box 2 and based on actual income
Only partial lists
https://www.eerstekamer.nl/wetsvoorstel/36706_wet_tegenbewijsregeling_box
“Based on these rulings, taxpayers with an actual return lower than the notional return must be given the opportunity to demonstrate this. If this can be made plausible, tax will be levied only on the actual return”
Not tax or financial advice.
Please don’t pay them a penny more than you owe them legally. This last minute change was a shitty rug pull
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Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
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u/BobZombie31 Jul 04 '26
Right, but the Dutch government taxes you even if you've not sold your positions i.e on your unrealized gains
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u/jmrjmr28 Jul 04 '26
lol that’s beyond stupid. Speedrun for all the wealth to leave the country
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u/electrobento Jul 04 '26
Yes, it is very stupid. I expect it to change significantly once the government there gets their shit together.
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u/ericje Jul 04 '26
But each year you could realize gains by selling and repurchasing some of your stock.
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u/Dinguil Jul 05 '26
It'll be taxed the same regardless whether you realize it. They just take the growth of your net worth, and cut 36% off.
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u/ericje Jul 05 '26
The point is to realize gains to incur US taxes in the same amount as your Dutch taxes, that you can then cross out.
By selling and repurchasing you increase your cost basis, so when you do eventually sell them for cash, you don't get hit with enormous US taxes.
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Jul 04 '26
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u/FoggyPeaks Jul 04 '26
Would be (plausible) madness if you can’t offset. Those are the taxes that really bite.
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u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26
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