Tax site crashes; deadline extended

Due to a server overload, the website for the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) did not work properly Monday night. People who did not manage to file their taxes before the 1 April deadline can count on fair treatment, according to a spokesperson for the ministry of Finance announced. Forms that were delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday will be treated as if they were on time. The website had problems due to an overload of people trying to access the website. Many people received error messages at filing their forms. Some files did make it through to the Tax Administration, but this was not the usual amount. Monday night was the deadline for taxes to be filed for 2013. It is unclear if an overloaded server was the only problem on the site. The website was not ineffective, but it did not work to standard. "That is very tiresome for people who want to file their taxes", the spokesperson admits. The Tax Administration tweeted that people could try the website later. The website was also host to a lot of complaints about the issue. Some took the disruptions more lightly, however. "Wiebes sat crying at the kitchen table with his upturned shoe box looking for that one missing receipt", somebody jokes about the responsible state secretary.