The Dutch Revenue has made a mistake in the imposition of automatically generated provisional personal income tax assessments for 2009. A large number of assessments have been imposed which state incorrectly that the taxpayers will either receive a refund or must pay an additional amount. The problem was caused by an incorrect application of the general tax credit.
Initially, the error was not reported on the Dutch Revenue's Web site, nor were the intended solution and processing. This led to a large number of reports from taxpayers to the Dutch Revenue on the toll-free tax telephone line
The Dutch Revenue has now acknowledged the mistake both in the media and in a publication on www.belastingdienst.nl. An inventory is being made of the taxpayers involved. These taxpayers will receive a letter of apology in the last week of July. The Dutch Revenue intends to rectify the error itself by issuing adjusted provisional assessments as soon as possible. This will be arranged by the end of September at the latest. The Dutch Revenue has promised that it will take changes in income, where they have been reported, into account. Incorrect provisional assessments need not be paid. This means that, in principle, the affected parties need not take any further action themselves.
Experience has taught us, however, that things can and do go wrong in the collection process where large assessments are concerned. If something does go wrong, we advise you to notify the tax collector immediately in order to avoid being charged costs. The road to obtaining a refund of these costs is not exactly easy.