Government will not compensate people who objected to savings tax too late

People who paid too much in savings tax in the past, but objected too late or did not object, will not be compensated for the amount they overpaid, RTL Nieuws reports based on sources from The Hague.

The Dutch Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that government had claimed too much tax on citizens' savings, starting from when it changed the method used for calculating assets tax in 2017. As a result, it was announced in April 2022 that around 60,000 people who had lodged objections to the overtaxation would be compensated a total of 2.8 billion euros.

At the time, the government was still looking into options to compensate people who had been overtaxed but had not filed objections or had filed them too late. The Supreme Court ruled earlier in the year that they were not entitled to compensation. Now, lawmakers say the 7 billion euros required to compensate everyone who paid too much tax is not in the government's budget.

"The Cabinet is faced with difficult choices. We can only spend the money once," State Secretary for Finance Marnix van Rij said.

The budget is currently prioritizing lower-income people and the help they will need to get through winter, according to RTL Nieuws. Of the four coalition parties, none has looked into compensating the overtaxed savers while creating the budget.

"Although of course it remains bitter that good savers who have not objected are now missing out on compensation," Van Rij said. "It is not legally required. Yet I also understand the people who indicate that they feel offended in their sense of justice."