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Moving guides

From Netherlands to Qatar

What changes in tax when you move from Netherlands to Qatar: what you pay today, what you would pay there and the rules Netherlands applies when you leave.

What you would save

With €150,000 a year in dividends or foreign income, compared as a genuine resident of each country.

Today in Netherlands€42,025
In Qatar€0
Yearly difference+€42,025

Full guide: Qatar →

Leaving Netherlands

  • Facts and circumstances (article 4 AWR). There is no day count. Residence depends on durable personal ties (and to a lesser extent economic ties): where your home, family, work, registration, bank accounts and assets are, and how long you intend to stay.
  • Return within one year. If you leave and come back within one year without having lived in another country, you are treated as having stayed resident the whole time.

Rules that can follow you after leaving

  • Residence fiction on return within 1 year (article 2.2 Wet IB 2001). Leaving and returning within a year without living elsewhere keeps you resident. It does not apply if you prove you were taxed as resident in an EU/EEA state, Switzerland or a designated treaty state.
  • Dutch nationals stay in Dutch inheritance and gift tax for 10 years. Dutch nationals who lived in the Netherlands are treated as resident for inheritance and gift tax for 10 years after emigrating (1 year for gift tax for non-nationals).

Exit tax in Netherlands

Conservatory assessment (conserverende aanslag) on emigration

  • Substantial interest: you (with partner or close relatives) hold at least 5% of the shares, or a class of shares, of a company.
  • Also applies to Dutch pension rights and annuities where premiums were tax-deductible, and some home-related savings products.

On emigration the substantial interest shares are deemed sold; the gain is taxed in box 2 (24.5% up to EUR 68,843, 31% above in 2026) and a conservatory assessment is issued instead of immediate payment.

Exit tax → · Am I still resident? →

Arriving in Qatar

Personal income: 0% · Company tax: 10%

Residence permit through a job, company or property investment.

183 days a year.

No personal income tax. Companies pay 10% on the foreign-owned share. Very expensive and geared to people who work there.

Living there

Monthly cost for one person, rent included
Doha€2,500–3,100
Climate
Hot desert; 40-45°C summers, mild winters 15-25°C.
Direct flights to
London, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Singapore
Safety
High
International schools
Many
Fixed internet
212 Mbps

Steps to residency

  1. 3 weeksRegister company with Ministry of Commerce or QFC
  2. 2 weeksObtain establishment card and entry visa
  3. 1 weeksMedical test and fingerprints
  4. 1 weeksResidence permit (QID) issued

About 7 weeks in total

Official websites: Tax authority · Immigration

Approximate figures that change often; check them before deciding.

Other destinations from Netherlands