Problems with decision deadline in benefits scandal is government's concern, court says

According to the administrative court, it is not its responsibility to find a collective solution to the problems related to the decision deadlines of the tax administration in the reimbursement to parents who are victims of the benefits scandal. The Council of State’s Administrative Law Department reported on Wednesday that "deliberately unrealistic decision deadlines" were included in the law on the recovery of surcharges, but that only the legislature can solve this, for example by amending the law.

The law states the terms within which the Tax and Customs Administration must take a decision, but these are structurally not met. "With the decision deadlines that are too short, the legislature has promised something that cannot be fulfilled in practice," the state councilor said. This, in turn, has led to numerous lawsuits by parents in court.

The District Court of Central Netherlands decided earlier this year that the implementing organization Recovery Toeslagen (UHT) would be given a standard deadline of July 1, 2024, to settle the cases. Shortly thereafter, the Rotterdam court ruled that the 12-week deadline should be maintained to give the Tax and Customs Administration an incentive to make a faster decision.

The Council of State Council of State now reports that it is important that cases pending before the courts be handled uniformly. Thus, the Tax and Customs Administration is instructed to decide on the parents' right to compensation six weeks after a court ruling.

However, the Council of State points out that this does not solve the implementation problems at the tax administration. "The deadlines of the law on the recovery of surcharges are still not respected, and the recovery will be pressured by the filing of numerous appeals against the decision that was not made in time." However, it is "not the task" of the administrative judge to solve the "problem created by the legislature."