Finance State Sec. accused of limiting investigation into tax office mistakes

State Secretary Menno Snel of Finance limited the investigation into mistakes made by the Tax Authority while canceling childcare allowances. The investigators Snel himself hired explicitly wanted to do a broader investigation, but Snel refused, RTL Nieuws and Trouw report.

This involves an investigation into the Tax Authority canceling the childcare allowance of hundreds of parents in 2014, after a childminder agency in Eindhoven had become the subject of a major fraud investigation. Some 300 parents ended up in financial trouble as a result. Afterwards, it was revealed that the allowances were canceled based on outdated information. Snel commissioned an investigation into this affair after he discovered that the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of parliament, had been incompletely informed.

According to RTL and Trouw, the investigators Snel hired were denied access to computer discs of the Tax Authority's investigative department FIOD. Their request for access to the MKB department, which conducts on-site investigation for the Allowances service, was also denied. These refusals happened under Snel's responsibility, according to the media.

In October Snel wrote a letter to the Tweede Kamer saying that he only had the systems of the Allowances department investigated. However, he did not mention that the investigators wanted to do a broader investigation.