Getting a place in public primary schools for 5-year-old children

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

Elementary school starts at age 4 and is compulsory; before that, it's childcare and you have to pay for it - the lottery element I guess indicates they have a waiting list, but school before age 4 is not obligatory.

I just did a quick Google search for "elementary school in haarlem netherlands" (link), I got a lot of hits - so there is no shortage of schools there.  You won't be able to register your child for any school until you have registered and got your BSN from the local council where you live.

When we moved there, we just registered, and walked over to our nearest school, helped the Headmaster climb down from the tree he had got himself stuck in, had a chat with him over a cup of coffee and then registered our 3 kids there.  We never had any problems with the Dutch education system; the main issue that expats have is they expect it to be just like home, it isn't.

Please come back to us if you have any further specific questions.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Hello Cynic,
Thanks for your reply. That sounds very relaxed! Hopefully that's how it works in Haarlem too.

I do have another question, about the overall taxes a freelance translator (as ZZP) would have to pay in Netherlands. According to this calculator, up to 28k per year one does not have to pay income tax at all. I find this too good to be true! Do you know if this is actually true and if there is any other tax I should pay (besides healthcare costs)? I know American clients, for example, are exempted from VAT, but I am at a loss as to what would be the net income after taxes. I find it hard to believe that 28k yearly gross income would translate to 27k net after taxes. I know this is a very specific question.

Thanks for your time.
Diego

Hi again.

This link may help you out.

Taxes in Holland are slightly different than most places; they have income taxes (which are reasonable), then they have social taxes (which are not).  Hopefully my link will make things a bit clearer.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks. I read a lot of sites like the link you posted, but it is not clear what the taxes are for ZZPs. I guess I will have to contact a Dutch accountant. Thanks again for your help.

Dgrun wrote:

Thanks. I read a lot of sites like the link you posted, but it is not clear what the taxes are for ZZPs. I guess I will have to contact a Dutch accountant. Thanks again for your help.

That calculator you linked to makes no provision for Social Security taxes, only income tax.  Everybody in the Netherlands pays Social Security tax on their worldwide income - currently circa 28%.  There are a few exceptions (for example pensioners don't pay the pension element which is a massive part of it).

I do agree that you should speak to a Dutch tax specialist.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team