2023-08-04 03:01:36
197,000 Dutch people failed to file an income tax return between March 1 and May 1. That is twice as many as last year. The Tax and Customs Administration tries to remind them through letters, text messages and telephone calls before a fine follows.
Like 8.6 million others, the nearly 200,000 absentees received a letter in January of this year inviting them to file a tax return. But they didn’t do that before May 1. Last year this group consisted of more than 100,000 people.
In May, the absentees initially received a friendly reminder letter. This month, a reminder follows in a slightly less friendly tone. The Tax and Customs Administration not only approaches the group by post, but also by text message and telephone calls. The tax authorities have a telephone number for more than half of the absentees.
“Two thirds of the people we texted turned out to have submitted a tax return on July 10,” says Cobben. “That’s quite a good score. But we would prefer that the other group also crosses the bridge.”
Do not submit a declaration if you have to pay extra
“It is difficult to determine whether it is due to unwillingness or whether people have failed to file a return,” says Steef Cobben, manager of income taxes at the Tax and Customs Administration. “They may have forgotten, people did not understand the declaration program, they were divorced or they were traveling for months.”
Some absentees did not file a return because they were financially short of cash, they said to the Tax and Customs Administration on the phone. “They saw in the tax return program that they would have to pay extra tax and therefore decided not to file the tax return,” says Cobben.
In some cases, the Tax and Customs Administration can help absentees. “Sometimes we can offer help at a tax office or at a support center of the municipality.”
A default fine of 385 euros (or more) is imminent
A tax assessment and a fine will follow for the group that has not yet filed a tax return at the end of August, even following a reminder. The Tax and Customs Administration then estimates the income for 2022, calculates how much tax is likely to be paid and issues an assessment. This includes a default penalty of 385 euros.
People who have not filed a declaration before can expect a higher fine. At five years, the fine is even 5,500 euros. Cobben: “You can hardly imagine it, but those people are there anyway.”
The Tax and Customs Administration also looks at its own policy
The tens of thousands of phone calls and text messages to absentees take up a lot of time and work, says Cobben. “But we do that anyway because we hope that this will lead to a tax return now and in the coming years. Because estimating income is also a lot of work. People can respond to the estimate and object or request an adjustment.”
Given the large number of absenteeism, the Tax and Customs Administration is also reviewing its own policy. “Were our invitation letters clear enough? Did we inform people sufficiently during the declaration period, for example through commercials on radio and television? Was it clear how you might request a postponement? We ask during the telephone calls with absentees whether they were well aware of this they had to file a tax return.
Whether you file a tax return or not, you pay taxes
In recent months it has become apparent that many bailiffs are struggling with a trend in which citizens call themselves ‘autonomous’. In doing so, people refuse to pay taxes or other bills.
“Whether that is also a cause of the increase in unsubmitted declarations, we do not notice,” says Cobben. “In any case, it makes no sense not to file your return. Whether you do that or not, you still have to pay tax in the end.”
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