Budget Day: battle for billions for abolition of dividend tax breaks loose again

The 1.9 billion euros that would once be spent on abolishing the dividend tax will definitely not go to the business community, according to the documents for Budget Day. The money that gave the cabinet so much of a headache is being used as a lubricant in the formation.

The Budget Memorandum states that 860 million per year is spent on tackling crime, social advocacy, improving the purchasing power of single earners and defense. The billion euros that remains will be reserved for the forming parties. The VVD can decide where to go there.

“There is a fence around that billion euros,” says one person involved. The parties at the formation table may then find a destination for it, the coalition parties have agreed in the run-up to Budget Day, according to sources.

Battle erupts

During the General Considerations there will be parties in the House of Representatives who do not want the money to remain on the shelf. The battle for the billions for the dividend tax, which has already been discussed so much, will therefore break loose again in the coming week.

For example, GroenLinks and PvdA want money to be used to improve purchasing power for everyone and to increase the salaries of teachers and healthcare workers.

It will therefore be exciting whether the money is really reserved for the forming parties. Because certainly parties that think that they will have little influence on the formation table, would rather immediately cash in on their wish list. The coalition parties think that the fence around this money can remain, because there is enough room in the budget due to financial windfalls to make other investments.

Died

The fierce political discussion about this money started with the start of the current cabinet. The VVD wanted to abolish the dividend tax and managed to arrange this amount in the formation at the time.

After much pressure, this compensation to companies was dropped, but the VVD insisted that the amount would go to companies in a different way. The alternative became the Job-related Investment Discount (BIK).

The BIK also fell silently because the European Commission sees it as state aid. Even after that, the money still had to find its way to companies, that was the demand of the VVD in particular. Since August, all employers have received a discount on their wage costs. But this discount (known as the AWf premium) is also being phased out further.

The fact that the outgoing cabinet has now decided not to release the 2 billion euros per year for companies has to do with the support packages. They would have gotten enough money that way.

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