Concerns about fraud when applying for compensation for the Allowances Affair

State Secretary Aukje de Vries (Supplementary Benefits, VVD) is concerned about signs of fraud when applying for compensation for the Allowances Affair. Some applicants wrongly hope to receive (more) compensation, she writes Friday in a letter to the House of Representatives.

The cabinet has received reports from various authorities, such as the Tax Authorities and municipalities. In addition to signals about “overcompensation”, there are “suspicions of fraudulent acts in order to get (more) compensation”, the state secretary writes. She says she is alert to “signs of possible illegality” and wants to investigate whether employees can be given more opportunities to report abuses. “I would like to emphasize that in the recovery operation we want to start from trust in the citizen and that justice will be done to them quickly.”

Also read: Blacklisted through income tax

More than 50,000 registrations

The State Secretary finds another worrying development about reports of intermediaries who offer to submit requests for compensation against payment. “This is absolutely not necessary for a registration.” In addition, people would register who appear not to be entitled to recovery, says De Vries. So far, 50,9000 people have applied to receive compensation. It remains to be seen who is actually entitled to this.

Due to the fraud approach of the Tax Authorities, tens of thousands of parents wrongly had to repay the childcare allowance they had received. Last week reported accountancy firm PwC that in dozens of cases the tax authorities estimated for years on the basis of appearance or origin whether someone posed a higher risk for committing fraud.

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