Declared a small income and ended up on a pencil to the tax office

The biggest subsidy scandal that led to the resignation of the Dutch government is far from over. Despite the fact that this year a decision was made to compensate parents in the amount of 30.000 euros, who suffered as a result of the so-called subsidy scam, journalistic investigations continue.

Recall that in 2012, the tax authorities began investigating illegal schemes for obtaining subsidies for children. Along with the perpetrators, thousands of innocent victims also suffered, who were obliged to return the money paid due to minor errors in filling out the documents. More details here и here.

This time Trouw and RTL Nieuws published articles stating that when checking benefits fraud, the tax authorities selected mainly people with low incomes for additional checks.

Those with low incomes were more likely to be classified under the benefit risk model (risicoclassificatiemodel van Toeslagen, or RCM). In addition to those with an income of 20.000, it included single parents. The fiscal service stopped focusing on this classification last year. This was reported to the media by representatives of the fiscal service itself.

The tax authorities justified their classification by the fact that there is a "statistical relationship between the level of income and the likelihood of filing (incorrect) statements." Therefore, since March 2016, the risk classification has been actively used. At the same time, the tax authorities noted that income did not have the greatest weight when deciding whether or not to include a person in the risk classification, since the amount of the benefit mainly depends on the number of children in the family who attend preschool institutions.

The news is not the most surprising and certainly not the last in the series "The Benefits Scam". The tax office has broken firewood. But this does not mean that only the innocent suffered - there was a fraud. Why did the tax authorities decide to control those who have a small official income? It's simple: among those who declare not the largest parish, there may be those who are engaged in part-time jobs that are not registered anywhere. So, in the opinion of the tax authorities, they are "sitting" on benefits undeservedly. Apparently, the next "exposure" of journalists will have little effect on the tax authorities 'close attention to citizens' incomes.

That is why we advise you to check if you have any benefits that you no longer qualify for, or if something has changed and you need to report it. Right now, at the end of the year, is the time to put your money affairs in order. December is the last month when you should think about the amount of taxes you will need to pay.

We remind you that there is such a convenient thing as an advance payment / settlement (voorlopige aanslag), which is now the time to submit. And all the advance calculations are made by the tax office on the basis of the previous report submitted. The tax authorities consider 2022 at the end of 2020, and a lot could have changed for you. More information about voorlopige aanslag here.

If you are afraid to get bogged down in calculations, then contact us (write to the chat). Our experts will not only answer all your questions, but also make a trial calculation. Fill out the form below if you want our specialist to contact you.