Why this differs from employment
If you are employed in the Netherlands and move to Belgium, you notice little in tax terms: your salary is still taxed in the Netherlands. For an owner-director (dga) four extra questions arise, and the answers decide whether the move costs you money or saves it.
1. Where is your company actually managed?
A company is liable to tax in the country where its real management sits. If, as sole director, you take all decisions from your office in Brecht, the Belgian tax authorities may hold that your BV is established in Belgium. That can be avoided, or deliberately arranged, but it takes a plan: where you meet, where you sign, who co-directs.
2. Substantial interest on emigration
On leaving the Netherlands, the tax authorities settle up on the increase in value of your shares: the protective assessment. You do not have to pay it at once; payment is deferred as long as you keep the shares, and it is collected when you pay out dividend or sell. Have your business valued beforehand.
3. Salary and dividend
Under the tax treaty, directors' remuneration is taxed in the country where the company is established. The Netherlands withholds 15% on dividends; Belgium taxes the dividend in your hands as a resident and credits the Dutch tax only to a limited extent. You will therefore want to review the balance between salary, dividend and pension before the move.
4. Private assets
Belgium has no wealth tax on a notional return like the Dutch box 3. After emigrating, savings and investments no longer fall under the Dutch levy, except for property you keep in the Netherlands. Belgium has its own levies: withholding tax on interest and dividends, a tax on securities accounts above a threshold and, since 2026, a capital gains tax on financial assets. Inheritance and gift tax change too: after ten years you fall entirely under the Flemish rules.
Working from home
Villa Grandeur has a 31 m² office on its own level, a 15 m² room beside it and a 48 m² attic. You receive clients in the 83 m² living room or on the covered terrace. Breda is approx. 25 min away, Rotterdam approx. 45 min. The floor plans show the layout per level.
The right order
First a tax adviser who knows both countries, then the notary, and only then the offer. The cost of that advice is small in relation to a purchase of €1,095,000 and to the interests in your business. Also read Mortgage and tax and the checklist.
Reference date: September 2026. This is general information, not personal advice. Rates and conditions change; have your situation checked by your notary or adviser.
