Cabinet wants better tax error communication

The Dutch Tax Administration Service (Belastingdienst) will introduce a new website feature in which clients can report errors. Nothing will be "kept under wraps", according to State Secretary Wiebes in Parliament, and the Tax office will communicate mistakes openly. Health care benefits were the site of mistakes this month. State Secretary Eric Wiebes of Finance told Parliament that the Tax office mistakenly sent health care benefits to the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB) instead of to those insured in 600 cases. In May, 3600 people were duped as well, not receiving the benefits they had a right to. Wiebes has emphasized that the errors are being fixed, and that people must be helped if they have been individually affected. The State Secretary adds that the problem must not be blown out of proportion, however. People must not be made to feel unnecessarily anxious. He states that such a large-scale organization cannot be expected to run smoothly 100 percent of the time. "Every morning, trains don't come on time, but that is not a reason to say that our railway system doesn't work. It's not something exceptional", Wiebes said. Yesterday, the State Secretary emphasized that the Tax office sends out 7.1 million benefit sums every month and collects around €1 billion every working day.