Dutch admin is efficient and unforgiving: it assumes you read Dutch, it sends everything by post and portal, and its deadlines are real. The chain starts the week you arrive, with registration at the gemeente, a BSN (citizen service number), and DigiD, the login that opens every government service. From there it is documents. This page covers the ones that carry money.
The first question: does the counter speak English?
Officially, the language of Dutch government is Dutch, and officially you have no right to be served in English. In practice it varies enormously by municipality and by desk. Does the gemeente conduct appointments in English? is an honest answer, including what to do when the answer is no.
Money you owe: the tax bill and the payment reference
Every Belastingdienst bill carries a betalingskenmerk, a 16-digit payment reference that encodes your BSN, the tax type, the year and the period. The tax office matches payments by this code and not by your name, so a transfer without it can sit unmatched while a reminder and interest arrive. Paying a Dutch tax bill: the crucial betalingskenmerk field explains where it sits and how to enter it.
In the year you arrive or leave you file a special return, the M-form, which is longer than the normal one and historically could not be filed in the app. The M-form: your Dutch tax return for the year you moved walks the terminology and the calendar.
Money you are owed: toeslagen
The Netherlands pays monthly allowances towards health insurance, rent and childcare, and a great many expats qualify without realising: zorgtoeslag, huurtoeslag, kinderopvangtoeslag. They are applied for through the portal with DigiD, paid in advance, and reconciled later against your actual income, which is why the amount you claim matters. Dutch toeslagen explained covers who qualifies, the thresholds, and the reconciliation that catches people out.
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| het BSN | citizen service number |
| DigiD | national login for government services |
| het betalingskenmerk | 16-digit payment reference on a tax bill |
| de aanslag | the tax assessment |
| de toeslag | the allowance / benefit |
| de aangifte | the tax return (also: police report) |
| de waarborgsom | the deposit |
| de notaris | civil-law notary |
Banking: the BSN question
Most banks want a BSN, but not all want it on day one, and this is the loop that traps new arrivals, since you need an address to get a BSN and often a bank account to get going. bunq and ABN AMRO open an account and give you around 90 days to supply the BSN; N26 and Revolut open with a passport; ING and Rabobank want it upfront. Opening a Dutch bank account as an expat, with or without a BSN compares the routes and gives you the phone Dutch for doing it by call.
If you are moving in with a partner, the Dutch en/of joint account explained covers the difference that matters: an en account needs both signatures, an of account lets either of you act alone.
Contracts, the notaris, and living together
Unmarried couples living together have far fewer automatic rights here than most people assume, and a samenlevingscontract is what creates them: partner pension, inheritance tax treatment, and clarity about who owns what. The notaries’ own site puts the cost of the deed at around 700 euros including VAT on average, varying by office and by how tailored the contract is. The Dutch samenlevingscontract: cost, rights and words covers what it does and what it costs.
More broadly, Dutch law requires a notaris for only a handful of acts, and the role is not the same profession as a notary public elsewhere. The notaris is impartial, serving the legality of the deed rather than either party, so they are not your lawyer. Where you do not command Dutch, Article 42 of the Wet op het notarisambt obliges them to engage an interpreter: that is their duty, not a favour you pay extra for.
Two things that quietly break the rules
Paying a cleaner cash is normal and mostly legal under a specific scheme, but the boundaries matter and getting them wrong makes you an employer with obligations: paying your cleaner zwart or wit. And ending a subscription is governed by cancellation rules that are more generous than providers imply: the headache-free way to cancel a Dutch telecom contract.
Preparing for the integration exam at A2 is its own track: gamify your A2 inburgering exam practice covers making the practice survive contact with real life.
Where to start
- Register, get your BSN, activate DigiD, in that order, in your first week.
- Open an account with a bank that matches your BSN situation: the bank account guide.
- Check whether you qualify for toeslagen; most newcomers on one salary do: the toeslagen guide.
- Never pay a tax bill without its betalingskenmerk: the payment reference guide.
- Living with a partner and not married? Read the samenlevingscontract guide before the first big purchase.
What we checked
The claims on this page that decide money, a deadline or a legal right, with the source each came from and the date we last read it.
- A notarial samenlevingscontract costs around 700 euros including VAT on average, according to the Dutch notaries' own public site. notaris.nl
- A payment to the Belastingdienst without its betalingskenmerk cannot be matched to the right assessment; since 1 May 2026 the tax office also banks with Rabobank rather than ING. belastingdienst.nl