If you live in the Netherlands, you automatically become taxable, but this does not mean that you have to file a tax return. If you received a letter from the tax office with a so-called invitation to file a return, this is tantamount to telling you that you must file it, regardless of the expected result. If you haven't received a letter from the tax office, but you think you are eligible for a tax refund, take the initiative and file your tax return yourself.

The tax office pays amounts starting from 15 euros, while asking for amounts starting from 50 euros. This means that if, according to the results of filling out the declaration, it turns out that you have to pay less than 50 euros, the tax office will forgive you this amount.

If you have lived in the Netherlands for the whole year (in this case, it means the presence of registration with the city hall of your place of residence), you submit an ordinary electronic declaration, the so-called form P. year), you need to fill out Form M. This form is filled in on paper, or, if you order it from us, then we send an electronic version of the form. You can request a paper version of the form from the tax office by phone or send a written request by mail. The form is sent for a rather long time, about 2018-6 weeks, so the deadline for submitting reports for foreigners is 8 months later. If you have lived abroad for the entire reporting year, but are a Dutch taxpayer (have income in the Netherlands), then you need to fill out Form C, which exists in both electronic and paper forms.

To get the final result, it will not matter how you file the declaration - jointly or separately. For calculations, only information about the compliance of your partner with the concept of a fiscal partner is important. In some cases, it is not possible to submit a joint declaration. For example, if one of the partners is a newcomer. In this case, form M will be filled in for one of the partners, and form P for the second. If both partners are newcomers, a separate form M is filled in for each partner. If one of the partners is an entrepreneur, it is also impossible to submit a joint declaration. This is due to the fact that the entrepreneur partner must submit an extended declaration, which includes a statement of the company's profit. Regardless of whether you file a joint declaration or do it separately, each partner will have their own decision. But even if you are filing a declaration only for yourself, you need to indicate your partner in it, because the income and benefits of both partners affect each other.

The standard deadline for filing a declaration is from March 1 to April 30 inclusive. If you do not have time to collect documents or, for some reason, do not have time to submit a declaration, it is possible to request a delay of 4 months (i.e. until September 1, 2021). If, however, you request a grace period through a tax consultant (for example, with the help of our firm), you will receive a grace period of 12 months (i.e. until May 1, 2021). Almost everyone has the opportunity to get a deferment, the main thing is to have time to request it before April 30, 2021, and also not be on the list of violators. For example, if you filed late returns twice in the previous three reporting years, you will automatically be on the list of offenders and will be denied an extension. If the violation occurred only once within three years, your request will be granted. It will be possible to request a deferral from February 7, 2020.

It makes no sense to submit a declaration earlier than the specified deadline, since only on March 1, the tax office will have all the data from employers and banks. All submitted declarations in the Netherlands are considered not in the usual order of priority, but according to the BSN numbers of the declarants. This gives you the opportunity to calmly collect all the necessary documents, while waiting for the annual reports (Jaaropgaaf) of your employers. Keep in mind that even if you have only worked for one day or been on sick leave for at least one day, you must receive an employer's annual report or a report on sickness payments from UWV. Even such a small income cannot be ignored in the tax return. After March 1, the tax office will have all the data on your income, and only then can we check this data for you. Therefore, if you are not sure that you remember all your earnings, it makes sense to provide us with your Digi code. By law, the processing time for a declaration is three months. That is why the tax office promises to process all submitted returns on time by July 1, but in practice it often happens differently. The same law allows the tax office to extend the period for consideration of the declaration up to two years. Forms M and declarations containing many different tax deductions are considered especially for a long time. After receiving a letter from the tax office with an approved calculation, the money will be credited to your account within a week, or vice versa, you will receive an invoice to pay the unpaid part of the tax. The standard term for payment of income tax is 6 weeks.

If you received a letter from the tax office, but did not file a return, you will first receive a reminder with the recommended deadline for filing a return, which is usually 1 month. If you ignore the first reminder, you will receive a second reminder asking you to submit your return within 5 business days. In case of violation of this deadline, you will face a fine from 226 to 4920 euros for not filing a tax return, or for filing late. In addition to the fine, the amount of unpaid tax will be calculated, set at the discretion of the tax service itself, as well as the penalty incurred during this time. Dutch tax legislation provides for a penalty not only for a late filed tax return, but also for incorrect data specified in the tax return, as well as for a late paid tax amount.

If you find an error before April 30, you just need to sell a new declaration, the previous one will be automatically canceled. If you find an error after April 30, but even before receiving a calculation from the tax office, just like in the first case, just submit a new revised declaration. You will receive a new down payment, in which there will be several corrections, but nevertheless the result will be correct. If you find an error after receiving the final calculation from the tax office, you can still change the declaration, but there is a special procedure for this, which we advise you to carry out with the help of a specialist.

If you are eligible for a tax refund, we strongly recommend that you contact a professional. The tax legislation of the Netherlands is quite complex and it will be difficult for a person without special training to take into account all the subtleties. The amount you paid to a specialist for filing a declaration almost always pays off. A tax consultant will take into account all possible deductions, make the necessary optimization of your taxes, and also suggest the correct distribution of the tax burden between partners. Including, he will tell you what other benefits or subsidies you can count on. Nalog.nl employees are always ready to help you in filling out any tax documents and provide the necessary information on all your questions.