The tax authorities can do more to prevent people who fail to file tax returns from getting into trouble. This is the opinion of the Taxes, Surcharges and Customs Inspectorate in a report published Monday. The advisory body investigated the early identification of (payment) problems among citizens and self-employed people.
It is mandatory to file a tax return in the Netherlands, but some people do not get around to doing so due to personal problems, such as an illness or the death of a loved one. In that case, the tax authorities must determine on the basis of estimates how much the person in question must pay. According to the Inspectorate, these amounts are often estimated too high, meaning that the absentee in question has to pay too much – and can thus get into trouble. According to the Inspectorate, it is possible that the Tax Authorities will make more precise estimates than is currently done: “With reasonable estimates of income, the Tax Authorities can prevent people from being assessed too high.”
The Inspectorate urges the tax authorities to take more into account personal circumstances that sometimes prevent a citizen from filing a tax return. If this does not happen, problems “can worsen, because people simply cannot get out of it while deadlines follow each other and bills and fines pile up,” according to the Inspectorate. For example, people who can demonstrate that they are experiencing serious setbacks would not have to lose the right to a payment arrangement if they fail to file a tax return.
Conditional fines
The advisory body also advises the Tax Authorities to consider only imposing a conditional fine if the tax is not filed for the first time. Then people only have to pay a fine if they fail to file a tax return twice, so that they have time to correct the first mistake. “We also think it is important that the Tax Authorities find a suitable solution for people who have run into major financial problems in the past due to overestimates,” the Inspectorate said.
In the past, initiatives have been launched within the Tax Authorities to identify people who have problems as early as possible. These often do not get off the ground “due to the lack of decision-making on the question of whether personal data is protected under the GDPR.” [privacywetgeving, red.] may be used for early detection.”
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