What is the AOW supplementary allowance?

The AOW supplementary allowance is an extra payment for people whose AOW pension started before 2015 and whose partner was under the AOW pension age and had little or no income at that time. The supplementary allowance scheme was discontinued in 2015.

If you receive an AOW supplementary allowance

If you already have a supplementary allowance, you can keep receiving it as long as you continue to meet the necessary conditions. The amount of your supplementary allowance depends on your partner’s income.

When will your AOW supplementary allowance stop?

Your AOW supplementary allowance will stop automatically when your partner reaches their AOW pension age. However, it can stop earlier, for example if you get divorced or if you die. If for any reason your supplementary allowance stops, you cannot start to receive it again. This also applies if you have a new partner who has not yet reached their pension age. Your supplementary allowance will also stop if you move to a country with which the Netherlands does not have an agreement on the verification of Dutch benefit entitlements.

Your partner’s income and your AOW supplementary allowance

If your partner’s income changes, it can affect your AOW supplementary allowance. This will depend on the nature of the change and the type of income. If your partner’s income is too high, your supplementary allowance will stop. Find out more by clicking on an item below.

If your partner receives income from work, e.g. gross wages or salary, an end-of-year bonus or profit from an enterprise, part of this income is deducted from the supplementary allowance. 

The calculation is as follows:

  • The first €320.04 of the gross income is disregarded.
  • Two thirds of the income from work above that amount is deducted from the AOW supplementary allowance

If your partner’s income exceeds €1,913.00 gross per month, your AOW supplementary allowance will stop.

Some types of income will not affect your supplementary allowance. For example, income from assets, holiday pay, or an annuity (if taken out by your partner) are not taken into account. This means they are not deducted from your AOW supplementary allowance.

If your partner has other income such as a pension or benefit, this income is deducted in full from your supplementary allowance. If your partner receives more than €1,061.97 gross per month, your supplementary allowance will stop.

If your and your partner’s joint income is more than €3,732.95 gross per month, your supplementary allowance is reduced by up to 10%. Your own income is taken into account only for this extra reduction.

If your AOW supplementary allowance stopped because your partner’s income was too high, you may be able to get a supplementary allowance again in the following situations:

  • your partner’s income exceeded the limit for no more than 3 months 
  • your partner’s income exceeded the limit for more than 3 months due to a different reason each month  
  • your partner has had varying income for more than 3 months but less than 12 months. 
  • Your partner is self-employed or works as a freelancer and has asked the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) for tax averaging . The tax averaging scheme was discontinued as from 1 January 2023. The last period that can be used for tax averaging is 2022, 2023 and 2024.

If you believe one of these situations applies to you, please contact us.

Make sure to report changes in your partner’s income

Report any changes in your situation to us within 4 weeks. If you live outside the Netherlands, you must report changes within 6 weeks. 

If you are unsure whether to report a change in your income, please contact us.

More information