What changes for your money
Illinois taxes income flat at 4.95% and property hard; the Dutch ledger inverts it. A BV holds profit at 19% up to €200,000; your director salary follows the €58,000 benchmark (with the expat ruling sheltering 30% for qualifying arrivals: how); dividends land at 24.5% in box 2 when you decide. The Chicago-sized property tax line shrinks to a Dutch municipal charge, healthcare flattens to €150 per adult, and the lakefront winter trades for a maritime one with tulips at the end.
Your residence route
The Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT): €4,500 of equity in a genuine business buys a two-year permit with five-year renewals, family included: the complete guide and the checklist.
Where Illinoisans land
Chicago’s professional-services DNA maps to Amsterdam’s Zuidas; trading and market-making people find their tribe around the exchange ecosystem; manufacturers and B2B operators pick Rotterdam and Brabant for the industrial spine. Consultants convert the book first: the consultant’s route.
The first 90 days
Company, bank, deposit — two weeks. IND filing — week three. Card, citizen service number, insurance, schools — the weeks after: the full sequence and every cost listed.