Buying in Amsterdam vs back home: what Americans really pay

Amsterdam doesn't care about your passport, and the Dutch rarely tax the gain on your home. Uncle Sam measures everything in dollars, and he does care.

The short version

• Americans can buy in the Netherlands on the same terms as the Dutch. There's no foreign-buyer approval, quota or surcharge.
• Transfer tax is 2% if you'll live in the home, 8% if you won't (a rental, a second home or a place for your kid at university) in 2026 [1]. Buyers under 35 can pay 0% on a home up to EUR 555,000 [2].
• The Netherlands has no capital gains tax on a private home. Instead it taxes your home yearly in box 1 (a small deemed rental value) or, for a rental or second home, in box 3 [3].
• The IRS taxes your worldwide gain anyway. Section 121 shelters up to USD 250,000 (USD 500,000 joint) on a main home you've lived in two of the last five years [4], and a tax-free Dutch sale leaves nothing to credit [5].
• Keeping a house in Boston you've moved out of? The exclusion only lasts while you still pass the 2-of-5-years test [4].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (USD 1.1163 per euro), rounded.

Can Americans buy in Amsterdam?

Yes, freely. The Netherlands has no foreign-ownership approval and no residency requirement for buying a home. You can buy in the Jordaan or IJburg on a DAFT permit, a highly skilled migrant permit or no Dutch permit at all.

What does trip up Americans is local, not national:

1. Ground lease (erfpacht). Much of Amsterdam's land is owned by the city. You buy the building, but you lease the land and pay ground rent, either yearly or bought off for a long period. Ask early whether the lease is "eeuwigdurend" (perpetual) and whether the ground rent is fixed or paid off. It affects the price, the mortgage and resale.
2. The owners' association (VvE). Almost every apartment belongs to a VvE that runs the building and collects monthly dues. Ask for the reserve fund, the maintenance plan and recent meeting minutes, the way you'd check an HOA back home.
3. Rules against buying to rent. Amsterdam uses a "buy-to-let protection" rule for cheaper homes: for a period after you buy, you generally have to live in the home yourself unless you get a permit. Check the current price threshold and duration on the city's website before you plan on renting it out.
4. Bidding. Asking prices in Amsterdam are often a starting point, not a ceiling. Many buyers hire their own purchasing agent (aankoopmakelaar) to bid.

The deal itself closes at a civil-law notary, who transfers title and registers it in the public land registry (Kadaster). There's no title insurance in the American sense.

Getting a loan: Dutch bank or US lender?

In Amsterdam. Dutch banks lend to foreign residents who are registered in the Netherlands with a BSN and Dutch income, though some ask more of people on short or fixed-term permits. A Dutch mortgage can't exceed the home's value, so you pay the transfer tax, notary and agent fees from savings. Interest on a mortgage for your main home is deductible in box 1 only if the loan is paid off on an annuity or linear schedule within 30 years, and at a capped rate. Fixed-rate periods of 10 to 30 years are common.

Back home. Borrowing against a US home and buying in cash is the other route. US lenders get cautious when your income is in euros, and some won't lend to borrowers abroad at all. Our guide to US mortgages for Americans living abroad covers what they ask for.

The currency trap. The IRS measures a euro mortgage in dollars. If the euro falls against the dollar while you owe it, paying the loan off can create a taxable US currency gain, even though you repaid exactly what you borrowed, and a currency loss on a personal home loan usually isn't deductible. Our guide to currency gains on a foreign mortgage explains it.

Costs side by side

Rates as of November 2026.

Illustration only. On a EUR 600,000 apartment (about USD 670,000), transfer tax is EUR 12,000 (about USD 13,400) if you move in, and EUR 48,000 (about USD 53,600) if you buy it as a rental or a pied-à-terre [1]. A 30-year-old would pay 0% only if the price were EUR 555,000 (about USD 620,000) or less; one euro over and the exemption is gone entirely [2]. The yearly box 1 add-on for living there would be EUR 2,100 of deemed income (about USD 2,340), before your mortgage interest deduction [3].

Tax when you sell

The Dutch side

Selling your own home in the Netherlands isn't a taxable event. While you live in it, the home sits in box 1: you add the deemed rental value (eigenwoningforfait) to your income and deduct qualifying mortgage interest [3]. A rental, a second home or a home you own after moving away sits in box 3 instead, taxed each year on a deemed return on its value. Either way, there's no Dutch tax bill on the profit when you sell.

The US side

Uncle Sam taxes your worldwide gain, in dollars:

1. Section 121 can cover an Amsterdam home. Own it and live in it as your main home for at least 24 months of the 5 years before the sale, and up to USD 250,000 of gain (USD 500,000 for most joint filers) is excluded [4]. The rules don't limit it to US homes.
2. No Dutch tax means no credit. The foreign tax credit only offsets foreign income taxes [5]. With no Dutch tax on the sale, any gain above the exclusion is taxed in full by the IRS. Transfer tax and OZB aren't income taxes and don't count.
3. Currency counts. Your dollar cost uses the exchange rate when you bought, and your proceeds use the rate when you sell. A stronger euro can create a US gain on an apartment that sold for exactly what you paid in euros.

Your old house in Boston

The 2-of-5-years clock keeps running after you move. Once you've been gone more than three years, the exclusion is usually lost, and depreciation from renting it out is taxed on sale even when the rest of the gain is excluded. Massachusetts can tax the gain on Massachusetts property too. Our guide to selling your US home after moving abroad walks through it.

Renting it out

The Dutch side. Rent from a Dutch home you don't live in isn't taxed as rent in box 1. The property sits in box 3, taxed on a deemed return on its value, whether you live in Amsterdam or have moved back stateside. Amsterdam also caps how many nights you can rent your own home to tourists and requires registration, and many VvE rules ban short-term rentals altogether. Long-term rentals of cheaper homes fall under the rent points system and the buy-to-let rule.

The US side. Report the actual rent and expenses on Schedule E. An Amsterdam apartment is used predominantly outside the United States, so you must depreciate it under the Alternative Depreciation System over 30 years, not the 27.5 years you'd use for a Boston rental [6][7]. Whether Dutch box 3 tax counts as a creditable income tax for your US return is a question to put to a US expat tax preparer.

If it's the house back home you're renting out, see our guide to rental income from a US property.

Which makes sense for whom

• Staying long term. Buying in Amsterdam often beats renting in a city famous for its housing shortage. At 2% transfer tax, the entry cost is low by European standards, and Section 121 covers most gains if you sell after living there two of the last five years.
• Under 35 and staying. The starter exemption is worth real money below EUR 555,000. Do the math before you get outbid into the zone above it.
• Retiring in the Netherlands. It can work, but plan the estate: the Netherlands taxes inheritances, the US taxes estates, and both can reach a Dutch home. See wills and estate planning across two countries.
• Moving back in a few years. Renting in Amsterdam and keeping (or buying) a home stateside is usually simpler. A weaker euro on the way out can turn a decent Dutch sale into a US tax bill, or into a loss you can't deduct.
• Buying to rent out. Think twice: 8% transfer tax, buy-to-let and short-stay limits, yearly box 3 tax and US tax on the gain later.

If you want to compare notes with people who've done it, our community group for Americans in the Netherlands is a good place to ask. A US expat tax preparer (or a Dutch notary) can check your situation before you sign.

Sources

1. Het tarief van de overdrachtsbelasting – Belastingdienst
2. Overdrachtsbelasting: drie tarieven en hogere startersvrijstelling in 2026 – SRA
3. Percentage eigenwoningforfait blijft 0,35% in 2026 – Rendement
4. Topic no. 701, Sale of your home – IRS
5. Foreign tax credit – IRS
6. Publication 527, Residential rental property (2025) – IRS
7. 26 U.S. Code § 168, alternative depreciation system – Cornell Law School LII

Keep reading

• Dutch taxes for Americans: how they fit with your US return
• Box 3: the Dutch tax on savings and investments
• Renting in Amsterdam
• Keeping or renting out your US home after you move abroad