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| MoHasanie said: Could you not have dual citizenship? Like have both your Holland citizenship and Canadian one? I say that because the benefits of an EU passport far outweigh the benefits of a Canadian one. |
I have no idea of the benefits. My Canadian girlfriend (now wife) never had any trouble with her passport in Europe. I guess I technically still am a dual citizin although my Dutch passport might be expired by now. I extended it once in Canada at the Dutch consulate in Hamilton. That almost was a scene straight out of Monthy Python. Waiting in some grey old guy's living room, slowly following procedures to the last letter. Wait, get called one by one to sit behind a bookcase for passport pictures, wait again while he fills out forms at a snail's pace, talking all formal language while adressing the people in the room. I had to avoid eye contact with the other people waiting not to burst out laughing.
Dutch tax office are miserable people too. I still got a fine in 2011, 9 years after leaving, for not paying Euro 0.00 in taxes in time. Then when I wouldn't pay it, explaining to them I haven't worked in Holland for the past 4 years, they send a 'dwangbevel in naam der koningin', threatening to impound my property. I would have liked to see that, the queen show up at my door to take 60 euros worth of household items.
Dealing with 2 tax offices was a pain in the ass. I continued working from home for a Dutch company, over the internet. Try to explain that to tax people in 2002. First year I ended up paying 50% of my income to the dutch tax office and another 30% to the Canadian tax office, plus a big fine because my accountant could not figure out in time how to file my situation correctly. It still took years before the Dutch tax office stopped taking money out of my pay check but at least I could get most of it back the year after to pay to the Canadian tax office. It took 5 years before my company gave in and started paying me through a Canadian payroll service so I would not have to deal with it anymore. (Then I quit the year after, working from home and flying back and forth 4 times a year wears you down eventually) However it took another 4 years before the Dutch tax office finally left me alone.
Living on a Dutch salary in Canada was great though!
