Over 68,000 people come forward as victims of benefits scandal

More than 68,000 people have come forward as possible victims of the childcare benefits scandal. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance said that a total of 68,376 people managed to contact the organization set up to handle claims before the deadline expired.

The years-long scandal saw people wrongly accused of fraud, often as the result of an algorithm used by the Dutch tax office to profile individuals. In many cases, these accusations were subject to inadequate scrutiny by tax office workers. The algorithm in many cases raised red flags simply based on a parent’s background, including whether they were citizens of other countries.

In many cases, they were forced to repay large amounts of childcare benefits received in a short period of time, and were cut off from accessing future benefits. For some, this led to enormous financial problems. The resultant problems even led authorities to remove children from some households.

Victims were given until December 31 to file a report, although claims were received on January 1 and 2 were also treated leniently due to the holidays. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, initially wanted to extend the final deadline to allow more victims to come forward, but the Cabinet did not agree.

Those whose reports were received on time will be subject to an initial brief screening to determine if they were unfairly victimized by the system. If that is the case, they will be eligible for 30,000 euros in compensation. So far, 95 percent of the parents who came forward have already completed such a test.

Of that group, 33,225 parents were determined to be victims of the scandal. Many have already received the 30,000 euros and are receiving help with outstanding debts and other issues.

After the first test, parents can receive a more extensive assessment. More than half of the parents involved have completed this process. This process may show that a parent is entitled to greater compensation than originally calculated.

The issue led to an extensive investigation. Following the damning report from an inquiry over the matter, Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s entire third Cabinet resigned in early 2021.