The work culture at the Tax and Customs Administration means that abuses are not reported and errors are difficult to correct. For example, civil servants do not dare to raise problems for fear for their career. They are also not properly managed, because managers have no idea of what is going on in the workplace.
As a result, abuses remain unheard of, according to a new report drawn up at the request of the House of Representatives in response to the allowance scandal. The findings do not only concern the parents in the allowance affair, but may also affect others.
“The report makes it clear that we are not yet where we want to be. The signals from outside and inside are the basis for the solutions we need,” the tax authorities said in a response to the NOS. The service does say that steps have been taken and that they regret that employees did not come forward earlier.
Tax telephone
The report states that employees of the Tax Information Line cannot deviate from the work instructions they have received in order to answer questions from people. It is precisely these employees who are the first to hear the harrowing stories, for example from childcare allowance parents. And if they do bring up the abuses with their supervisors, they often get the reaction “that the laws and regulations are just that way”, according to the report.
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