Gov't wants two State Secretaries to handle problems at Tax Authority: report

The government wants two State Secretaries to succeed the resigned Menno Snel, who was responsible for the Tax Authority as State Secretary of Finance. The problems at the Tax Authority are too large for one person to handle, sources involved told broadcaster NOS.

The Tax Authority has been under pressure for some time, the latest problem being the so-called childcare allowance debacle. Hundreds of parents had their childcare allowance halted after they were wrongly accused of fraud, often leaving the parents in an impossible situation. This debacle resulted in Snel's resignation in December.

On Saturday, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance announced that the Tax Authority will be divided into three sections with each its own Director General after the childcare allowance affair, NU.nl reports. The current Director General of the entire organization, Jaap Uijlenbroek, will resign from this position and become a special advisor to the General Administrative Service.

Later this month the Tax Authority will appoint two independent personnel counselors, to whom employees can report abuses within the organization.