Since the 1st of April, refugees from Ukraine (including refugees without the Ukrainian nationality) can claim € 260 living allowance, per person per month. Registration in the BRP (Basisregistratie Personen) is not a requirement for receiving a living allowance.

Please note that local authorities may pay out part of the living allowance in kind, for example if meals are offered at shelter locations. As a result, it is possible that refugees in some municipalities receive (much) less living allowance.

Refugees who live with a host family receive an extra allowance in addition to their living allowance. Adults receive € 215 per month, children € 55. This money can be used for things like public transport, family visits or sports. Refugees can also use the money to contribute to the costs of the host family, but this is not obligatory. When a host family accommodates more than one refugee, they are each entitled to their own living allowance. There is no maximum amount per host family.

The government has decided to grant living allowances for a period of 3 months, with an extension to six months. In the meantime, it is being considered how the payment of living allowances can be organized in the future, for refugees who do not have work.

In 2023, the Netherlands established a dependence between the level of income and the amount of payment. They also changed the approach to food benefits - the amount of assistance will depend on the number of family members.

In the Netherlands parents receive a subsidy for raising their children, until they are 18 years old. Currently refugees from Ukraine who do not work in the Netherlands cannot receive these benefits. However, if you do have a job in the Netherlands, you might qualify for it. Contact the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB, the Dutch organisation that implements social insurance schemes) for more information.

When a refugee has income from work, the living allowance stops, regardless of the amount of income. Family members who are not working will still receive a living allowance. If you start working, you must report this to the municipality. If you at some point lose your job, you can apply for the living allowance again. Please contact the municipality regarding this. Check the website of the central government for the latest information.

This cash assistance is intended to pay for food, clothing and other personal items. The amount of assistance consists of three parts. How much you will receive depends on the type of housing where you live and your age:

• The amount for clothing and personal expenses is 56.12 euros per month.
• If your family consists of 1 or 2 people, you will receive 215.06 euros per adult and 178.36 euros per minor per month for food.
• If your family consists of 3 people, you will receive €171.99 per adult and €142.57 per minor per month.
• If your family consists of four or more people, you will receive €150.45 per adult and €124.97 per minor per month.
• You will not receive money for food while you are in a municipal shelter that provides food.
• For persons living in host families, the additional living allowance is reduced. This amount is 93 euros per month for both adults and minors.

We highly recommend you open a bank account while living in the Netherlands. This will make it easier for you to arrange various matters and help you participate in everyday life. Also, a local bank account means the municipality where you live can transfer funds to you more easily and conveniently.

Refugees from Ukraine can open a bank account by showing a Ukrainian biometric passport or identity card. With almost all banks you also need a citizen service number (BSN). Refugees also need a home address, telephone number and e-mail address. A checking account requires an IBAN, a debit card and the possibility to arrange (international) banking business through online banking. On the website of Betaalvereniging Nederland you can see which banks offer this for refugees from Ukraine and what the conditions are. These banks have temporarily relaxed the rules and guidelines for providing checking accounts to refugees from Ukraine.

The following banks offer payment accounts for refugees from Ukraine:

ABN Amro

Bitsafe: Only a Ukrainian ID/passport or a Ukrainian driver's license is required. You do not need a BSN.

Bunq : Your BSN only needs to be provided after opening the bank account. Bunq also has opportunities for Ukrainians to open a bank account with an alternate id.

ING

Rabobank : You can also open an account here with a valid or expired passport from another country along with a Ukrainian residence permit that was valid on February 24, 2022.

Regiobank

SNS Bank

Triodos Bank

A more detailed overview of all the different providers of payment accounts can be found on this website of the municipality of Amsterdam .

Until 15 December 2022 refugees with Ukrainian nationality can exchange up to 10,000 hryvnia in banknotes into euros (roughly EUR 310) free of charge. This can only be done once. They can do this at any GWK Travelex branch . Initially, this scheme will be in place for 3 months, expiring on 15 September 2022.

Only banknotes in denominations of UAH 100 or more will be accepted. Coins will not be accepted.

This scheme is available to people aged 18 and over who have:

• a valid Ukrainian passport or identity document, or
• Ukrainian nationality and a Dutch residence document or alien’s identity card, or
• an expired Ukrainian passport or identity document bearing a validity sticker issued by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

The Netherlands has a 'progressive income tax system'. This means that the higher your income, the more tax you have to pay. This tax is automatically deducted from your salary. The income tax system works in 3 steps:

• 0 to 35.472 euro are taxed at 9,42%;
• 35.472 to 69.398 euros are taxed at 37.07%;
• 69.398 and above are taxed at 49.50%.

Please note that there will probably be other taxes and contributions deducted from your salary. For more information, please contact the Belastingdienstor your employer.

Sales tax is levied in the form of VAT (btw). Entrepreneurs include VAT in the price of goods and services. As a result, the price may be higher than indicated. If something includes VAT, that is the total price. In this case, you do not have to take into account a higher bill than expected. If something is exclusive (excl.) of VAT, you still have to pay 9 or 21% VAT, depending on the service or product.

In this case, individual consultation with a professional lawyer is necessary.

There is an ingenious, but not perfect, solution — to prove to the tax authority of the state in which the citizen does not plan to pay taxes that he is a resident of another country where he fulfills this duty.

A natural person has such a right, as Ukraine has valid conventions and treaties on the avoidance of double taxation with 73 countries of the world. Among them are almost all European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. According to these conventions, Ukrainians who pay taxes in Ukraine have the right to avoid taxation in the country of residence.

If such a situation arises in which a citizen falls under the criteria of a tax resident of Ukraine and at the same time another state defines him as its resident, he has the right to contact the tax authorities of the country of residence and make a request to the Ukrainian tax authorities to confirm that he pays taxes.

That is, in order to prevent double taxation, it is necessary to determine the resident status of an individual and, if necessary, obtain a document that will confirm it. But this may require the help of specialists - tax consultants or lawyers. Specialists advise in advance to collect evidence of the presence of a center of economic interests in Ukraine (if you plan to pay taxes only in Ukraine).

Among them may be:

• certificate of payment of taxes in Ukraine;
• certificate of tax resident of Ukraine (soon to be available in electronic form);
• actual place of registration in Ukraine;
• evidence of the presence of an individual entrepreneur registered in Ukraine (registration documents and tax declarations);
• certificates of current accounts in Ukrainian banks;
• certificates about the child's attendance at educational institutions in Ukraine;
• receipts for the payment of utility bills.

If a citizen of Ukraine is recognized as a resident of Ukraine, but paid taxes in another country, the taxes paid can be credited in Ukraine. But if a person does not meet the criteria of a resident of Ukraine, it allows to change the tax resident status and consider another country as the place of tax payment.

It is important to check the registration of a natural person as a subject of entrepreneurial activity in the Unified State Register. Even if the activity has not been carried out for a long time, but the registration has not been terminated, this is a criterion for recognizing a person as a resident of Ukraine, which is accompanied by the obligation to pay taxes on income received abroad in Ukraine.

Being a citizen of Ukraine, but a tax NON-resident, you will still have to pay taxes in Ukraine for some types of income:

• when receiving inheritance and gifts from persons who are not relatives of the 1st and 2nd degrees of kinship;
• when receiving an investment profit;
• when selling/leasing immovable and movable property to a natural person.

Source .

You can transfer money from Netherlands to Ukraine via an international transfer or money transfer at a corresponding provider or a bank.

For an international transfer at the bank you have to fill out a special form and usually pay fees. Other special money transfer providers (e.g. Western Union, Moneygram, Wise, Revolut, Paypal) are often a cheaper and faster alternative.