The the dividend tax The Dutch government tried to abolish the Dividend tax. dividend tax fiasco and the childcare subsidies scandal. Around 10,000 families had been forced to repay tens of thousands of euros of subsidies after being wrongfully accused of fraud, leading to unemployment, bankruptcy or divorce. – the Dutch Government has fallen short on these two important issues in the last four years.
Both are tax issues. The former got the current government off to a very unfortunate start of and the latter caused its fall. But the two affairs show the sharp contrast in treatment between large companies and individual citizens, who were victims of a ruthlessly harsh system. In this Dutch language opinion article, Arnold Merkies (coordinator of the Tax Justice Network and SOMO staff member) states why it is crucial in the coming period for the Dutch tax administration to focus on the human dimension and at the same time to stop inappropriate constructions for multinationals.
This opinion article was published in Dutch newspaper Trouw on 5 February 2021.
> Read the full article in Dutch
