Moving to Holland?
Discussion
As a fan of trappist beers, they're way cheaper than the UK too 
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30% tax thing wouldn't be an issue.
A rough estimate of 30% increase in cost of living is interesting. Salary increase would be more than that, but only about 5-10% more than mine and my wife's combined salaries though. Loads of ex-pats in the office but I don't really want to make too many enquiries until I'm fairly sure if I want to apply for the job
.30% tax thing wouldn't be an issue.
A rough estimate of 30% increase in cost of living is interesting. Salary increase would be more than that, but only about 5-10% more than mine and my wife's combined salaries though. Loads of ex-pats in the office but I don't really want to make too many enquiries until I'm fairly sure if I want to apply for the job
As Kapiteinlangzaam said - anything car related is outrageous although I don't personally find insurance too bad but all down of course to personal circumstances as in the UK.
Road tax is emission dependent and for a diesel is high.
Fuel is expensive.
To answer your other questions;
How expensive is health insurance?
Nothing to compare it against in the UK. I pay EUR345 a month for my wife and I. I'm 50 and my wife 56 - she has top cover including dental, I have top cover excluding dental. Everyone has a EUR385 annual excess on the basic insurance. You still have to pay for prescriptions but for some stuff can claim it back. The health insurance also generally covers you outside the Netherlands.
Food/drink prices don't seem that different to the UK to me.
Pretty similar really. If you go to ah.nl you can click the link at the top left of the page "Producten" and look at the pictures for the basic items with prices so you can compare.
I can look at house prices online easily enough but are utility bills high?
Depending on where you live in the UK - house prices in the Randstad (area between Amsterdam-Utrecht-Rotterdam-Den Haag) I think are very expensive in comparison, and of course you have pockets of wealth like in any country where the rich and famous live.
I think bills are more expensive than in the UK for water, gas and electric. For a small 3 bed semi with two occupants we pay roughly EUR1,200 a year for water and EUR2,000 for gas and electric.
Internet and TV is cheaper, with a faster internet speed. I have a good selection of TV channels at home with 150Mb internet for around EUR80 a month.
If you buy a property, you will have to pay a sort of "council tax" based on the value of your house each year.
In most cities if you don't have your own parking space as part of your house / land, you will need to buy a parking permit from the local council.
What else do I need to consider?
Income tax if you earn over EUR67k is 52%
Road tax is emission dependent and for a diesel is high.
Fuel is expensive.
To answer your other questions;
How expensive is health insurance?
Nothing to compare it against in the UK. I pay EUR345 a month for my wife and I. I'm 50 and my wife 56 - she has top cover including dental, I have top cover excluding dental. Everyone has a EUR385 annual excess on the basic insurance. You still have to pay for prescriptions but for some stuff can claim it back. The health insurance also generally covers you outside the Netherlands.
Food/drink prices don't seem that different to the UK to me.
Pretty similar really. If you go to ah.nl you can click the link at the top left of the page "Producten" and look at the pictures for the basic items with prices so you can compare.
I can look at house prices online easily enough but are utility bills high?
Depending on where you live in the UK - house prices in the Randstad (area between Amsterdam-Utrecht-Rotterdam-Den Haag) I think are very expensive in comparison, and of course you have pockets of wealth like in any country where the rich and famous live.
I think bills are more expensive than in the UK for water, gas and electric. For a small 3 bed semi with two occupants we pay roughly EUR1,200 a year for water and EUR2,000 for gas and electric.
Internet and TV is cheaper, with a faster internet speed. I have a good selection of TV channels at home with 150Mb internet for around EUR80 a month.
If you buy a property, you will have to pay a sort of "council tax" based on the value of your house each year.
In most cities if you don't have your own parking space as part of your house / land, you will need to buy a parking permit from the local council.
What else do I need to consider?
Income tax if you earn over EUR67k is 52%
Thanks, not too bothered about the current cars (Octavia and Jazz 
), I gather from above you can run them for 6 months on UK plates. Living in the Randstadt area we probably wouldn't need 2 cars as I'd try to get a house within cycling distance of the office, but I'd need to work out what we do about the motorbikes.
Hadn't thought about the organisation having their own tax advisors, they're a big multinational organisation with a lot Brits working here and good relocation packages so presumably do have advisors.
Had a chat with the wife about it last night and she seem to be up for the idea. My biggest concern really being that she'd get bored or not find work over here. I'm currently contracting on the site and she's visited a few times so has a reasonable idea of the area. Given UK house prices (and the current exchange rate!), I'd like to keep the UK house so we have somewhere to move back to if we want, especially as there's a 6 month probationary period, and it's initially a 3 year contract.
Department head is back in next week, I think my first step is to have a chat with her to see what my chances are, and then have a serious talk with some of the other brits in the department. One was contracting and went permie last year, but I don't think she's got an UK based assets.
), I gather from above you can run them for 6 months on UK plates. Living in the Randstadt area we probably wouldn't need 2 cars as I'd try to get a house within cycling distance of the office, but I'd need to work out what we do about the motorbikes.Hadn't thought about the organisation having their own tax advisors, they're a big multinational organisation with a lot Brits working here and good relocation packages so presumably do have advisors.
Had a chat with the wife about it last night and she seem to be up for the idea. My biggest concern really being that she'd get bored or not find work over here. I'm currently contracting on the site and she's visited a few times so has a reasonable idea of the area. Given UK house prices (and the current exchange rate!), I'd like to keep the UK house so we have somewhere to move back to if we want, especially as there's a 6 month probationary period, and it's initially a 3 year contract.
Department head is back in next week, I think my first step is to have a chat with her to see what my chances are, and then have a serious talk with some of the other brits in the department. One was contracting and went permie last year, but I don't think she's got an UK based assets.
Like the Kapitein, I have no assets in the UK but do keep my old UK bank account "just in case" I were to ever move back. There might be a fiver in it if I am lucky !
Another thing to remember is if you spend more than 183 nights in the Netherlands in any one tax year, you would be deemed a tax resident and all incomes liable for tax in the Netherlands.
Good luck what ever you choose and if you ever want a chat when your over, drop me a PM here
1/2p
Another thing to remember is if you spend more than 183 nights in the Netherlands in any one tax year, you would be deemed a tax resident and all incomes liable for tax in the Netherlands.
Good luck what ever you choose and if you ever want a chat when your over, drop me a PM here
1/2p
All income? So income for renting out my house in the UK might be liable for UK and NL tax? Asked about that one on the finance forum and it looks like I need to read up on reciprocal tax agreements between UK an NL. I'd assumed income in the UK was taxed in the UK and income in the NL taxed in NL, but it seems its not that simple.
RizzoTheRat said:
All income? So income for renting out my house in the UK might be liable for UK and NL tax? Asked about that one on the finance forum and it looks like I need to read up on reciprocal tax agreements between UK an NL. I'd assumed income in the UK was taxed in the UK and income in the NL taxed in NL, but it seems its not that simple.
Yes - look into it carefully, but there is a dual tax treaty between NL and UK and you will only pay tax once - but may need a bit of work and it caught me out big time the first time I lived here !kapiteinlangzaam said:
The tax rules in NL are ridiculously complicated. You definitely need to be consulting specialist advisors no matter what you do.
I realise this is ancient (dug the thread up whilst looking to see what line of work Rizzo is in ) but I solved the complex tax issue by being crap at it. Eventually the tax office decided I was just too much like hard work ( as my tax was always 0) and they told me not to bother ever filling out a tax form again Resurrecting this thread. I commented on another PH forum earlier about buying an LHD car for use in the Netherlands. After some discussions with a colleague who has a lot of experience driving his RHD car on the Continent, I decided that if possible I'd like to keep my current RHD car at least for a bit, as it's one less thing to worry about when moving.
The problem is that I have to get a BSN. I have heard conflicting things about whether I can still drive a UK-registered car on Dutch roads (for the usual 6-month grace period) once I have one, or whether having a BSN makes it illegal for me to drive a foreign car. My initial plan was to keep the car (and its UK registration) for the 6 months and then decide whether to register it in NL (which would AFAIK require replacing the headlamps) or sell it (probably back in the UK) and buy an LHD car. But if I can't drive it on UK plates once I have a BSN things get more difficult...
Does anyone have any experience either way? Thanks!
The problem is that I have to get a BSN. I have heard conflicting things about whether I can still drive a UK-registered car on Dutch roads (for the usual 6-month grace period) once I have one, or whether having a BSN makes it illegal for me to drive a foreign car. My initial plan was to keep the car (and its UK registration) for the 6 months and then decide whether to register it in NL (which would AFAIK require replacing the headlamps) or sell it (probably back in the UK) and buy an LHD car. But if I can't drive it on UK plates once I have a BSN things get more difficult...
Does anyone have any experience either way? Thanks!
I've also heard conflicting reports of 2 weeks or 6 months being the time limit for driving a foreign registered car.
As for converting and registering, a college recently imported his car. He swapped the headlights over and filled in a load of paperwork to get new plates, but doesn't need the Dutch MoT equivalent until his UK MoT expires.
As for converting and registering, a college recently imported his car. He swapped the headlights over and filled in a load of paperwork to get new plates, but doesn't need the Dutch MoT equivalent until his UK MoT expires.
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