Victims of the benefits affair no longer have to pay debts they owe to government agencies. State Secretary Van Huffelen of Finance has just announced this.
This arrangement prevents the parents, who all receive at least EUR 30,000 from the cabinet, from having to hand over a large part of that amount to creditors. “I am very happy that we can offer parents a clean slate,” said Van Huffelen.
The Tax and Customs Administration and the Allowances Department also waive the claims. Last week, the tax authorities said they did not want to do that. This led to a lot of outrage, because the parents are the victims of the tax authorities’ fraud hunt that got out of hand.
Unfairly charged with fraud, thousands of parents have run into financial difficulties. They usually had to repay all childcare allowance they had received, often with a fine. This also resulted in debts with other organizations.
Private creditors
Public institutions such as the CAK, the UWV, the Social Insurance Bank and the municipalities also participate in the scheme. Van Huffelen calls on private creditors and banks to do the same. She is still talking to them about this.
Exactly how much money is involved is unknown. It is estimated that the parents have many tens of millions of euros in debts with the government. According to the ministry, they will all be canceled, regardless of what it costs the treasury.
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