Netherlands ranked top destination for professional South Africans

The Netherlands has emerged as one of the new emigration destinations for professionals and their families.

The career opportunities, secure lifestyle and value placed on South African professionals appear to be the main reasons for the country gaining widespread popularity among emigration hopefuls.

Tax Consulting South Africa and Xpatweb, South Africa’s largest tax and international mobility practice respectively, spent the week in the Netherlands hosting tax and immigration planning sessions with recently emigrated South Africans.

Netherlands: A home away from home

Xpatweb Director Marisa Jacobs said skilled South African professionals are in high demand in the Netherlands.

“Not only is the Netherlands attractive in terms of their work/life balance, but the Dutch government offers enticing tax incentives for highly skilled migrants, especially in the financial, engineering and information technology (“IT”) fields,”, Jacobs added.

Xpatweb also met with the Deputy Ambassador of the South African High Embassy at the World Trade Centre in The Hague.

“What was interesting to learn is that the Deputy Ambassador confirmed there are 35,000 South Africans currently in the Netherlands, of which 20,000 are working and the balance is spouses and children”, Jacobs said.

These numbers show that the Netherlands has truly become a “home away from home” for South Africans moving abroad.

Why the Netherlands?

Covid-19 and its far-reaching effects have not deterred the economic growth of the Netherlands.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), economic growth rose to 4.8% for 2021.

With the economy growing at such an exponential rate during a pandemic, the Netherlands has now been facing a different type of dilemma, job vacancies are now outnumbering the number of unemployed people.

This means that there are roughly 123 vacancies for 100 unemployed people, according to the CBS.

It is not just the growing pool of vacancies that is attractive for South Africans.

The Dutch work/life balance is another contributing factor to why the Netherlands is seen as an emerging hub for skilled migrants.

The Dutch put a lot of emphasis on family/leisure time and working hours are fewer than in most European countries.

Most Dutch professionals work on average 35 hours per week, where a few of those days can be used for remote working.

The Netherlands also has fantastic “soft landing” programmes for expats, with efficient government agencies such as the international Expat Centre that offer on the ground assistance to expatriates who have just moved into their country.

The assistance entails a detailed smooth onboarding of individuals and businesses into the Netherlands, ranging from customs, arrival, orientation and housing tour, and real estate to the most practical matters of registering in the Netherlands for social security, health insurance, banking and even finding relevant child carers/education.

The importance of a roadmap

Although the soft-landing programme provides a great entry into the Netherlands, that is only one piece of the puzzle.

Head of Client Engagement at Tax Consulting South Africa, Dr Dylan Price, added that many South Africans, in the haste of moving abroad, did not take into consideration pertinent financial, tax and healthcare issues related to their emigration.

“Good planning will include reviewing your South African medical aid, life policies and insurance, looking at your assets and retirement annuities, banking strategies to move funds offshore, and closing off your tax affairs with SARS.

“Where this is not planned optimally, you can land yourself in a precarious position both financially and with the local authorities,” explained Price.

“These items will form part of a client’s roadmap when planning their exit from South Africa. It is important to work with a provider that has relevant experts in-house that can pull this all together for you – and avoid being sent from pillar to post seeking advice,” said Price.

Compiled by Narissa Subramoney

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