Nadya Smirnova

I filled in my very first Dutch tax return myself, with a dictionary open beside me. That experience is exactly why I love helping other internationals today.

I was born and raised in Volgograd, the city once known as Stalingrad, in southern Russia. I studied there too, at a university that had only just opened, on a brand-new taxation programme. In my final year, I did an internship at the Russian tax service, and what I saw there stayed with me.

The system frustrated me. The forms were confusing and poorly structured, and people were not really expected to understand them. If you wanted to file, or even to claim a refund you were owed, you almost always had to pay someone to do it for you. I felt there had to be a better way.

Around that time, I took a job in a library, surrounded by books, while I worked out what I wanted to do next. It was there that I met my husband. He is an entrepreneur who had built an app used by people all over the world, and when he wanted to start an international business, we moved to the Netherlands together with our young family.

Filing taxes here was a revelation. My very first letter from the Dutch tax authority was clear and well structured, with everything explained step by step, exactly what I had been missing in Russia. I filled in our M-form myself, dictionary in hand, and realised I could help people in the same position. That is exactly what led me to TaxSavers.

Today, my focus is on the complex side of international tax: cross-border situations, tax treaties, the 183-day rule and returns that do not fit a standard template. I write articles for the same reason I once sat down with that dictionary. When you are new to a country, tax can feel overwhelming, and a clear explanation makes all the difference. If I can spare someone the uncertainty I once felt, that is exactly the point.