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I worked in The Netherlands at my previous employer from August 2013 until July 2014 and I was granted the 30% ruling. After this, I moved to Ireland for a new job.

Should I expect to get some tax refund from The Netherlands for 2014? If yes, when will this occur? Do I need to fill in some forms in order to ask for this refund or will it be done automatically if I keep my Dutch bank account open? Is there some English-speaking agency that can help me sort this out?

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I am not sure whether you are eligible but it's very unlikely to be automatic. In my experience, to get any type of refund, you have to submit a tax return (aangifte doen), if only to confirm that you haven't had any other sources of income than those the tax office knows about. Incidentally, you can still do that up to five years afterwards and they even sometimes send letters saying “you might be eligible for a refund” in year + 2 (I received one once).

If you would have stayed in the Netherlands without a job for the rest of the year, it would be reasonably easy: Download the yearly tax return software, click your way through and submit the data electronically. Here is the link for 2013 (unfortunately all in Dutch, the English part of the website seems to be exclusively about non-residents). You can do it starting in March of the following year and would receive a letter and a refund some time in summer IIRC.

Last time I checked (which is admittedly a few years back), the software was only for (relatively) simple cases and you were not allowed to use it if you resided abroad for any part of the year. I seem to recall than a friend did it anyway and I think she did receive a refund and was never bothered (as far as I know) for having used the software. Still, the proper way is to submit a different (paper) form (I have another friend who tried it, don't remember the details or how it worked out for him). Claiming some tax rebate while failing to properly account for your moving or your Irish income could even amount to fraud for all I know so be careful here.

Also, there have been some last-minute changes in 2014 that the tax office was not able to implement right away so that you will probably receive less money than you would have in other years or perhaps be asked to submit a tax return even if you did not have to do it for 2013. And I don't know how any of this interacts with the 30% ruling. In any case, do make sure the tax office has your new address, they can be nasty about it.

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  • I see.. Well, I'll give it a shot with the software next spring. Do you know if they are able to get my address from the municipality or do I have to send it to them separately? Dec 6, 2014 at 12:00
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    @MihaiTodor I am not sure about that. In principle they should, the stories I have heard were from people who “deregistered” in the Netherlands before having another address abroad and therefore could not give it to the municipality.
    – Gala
    Dec 6, 2014 at 13:11
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    @MihaiTodor Incidentally, the fiscal year and the calendar year are the same in the Netherlands such that the August-December 2013 period counts for 2013 so you could already take care of that, one way or another.
    – Gala
    Dec 6, 2014 at 13:13
  • @MihaiTodor I added a small note, do be careful with the software, as I am not sure it's the right thing to do in this situation. I am not an expert and obviously can't offer legal advice so the best would be to have someone help you check the rules before doing that.
    – Gala
    Dec 6, 2014 at 16:31

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