Sep 29, 2023 at 5:10 AM Update: 44 minutes ago
Half a million people who did not file a tax return for 2022 and are probably entitled to a refund will receive a letter one of these days. According to the Tax Authorities, they can expect an average of 444 euros back.
This group includes many young people of about fifteen years old. For example, they have had their first holiday job in agriculture or a supermarket. They are not obliged to file a report and often do not do so yet. The letter they will receive this or next week states that they will probably get money back if they still file a tax return.
More than ten million Dutch people have already filed an income tax return for 2022. Anyone who has not done so before September 1 can expect a fine.
“But now it is also time to give people money that is actually theirs,” says Ron Daman, senior income tax advisor at the Tax Authorities. “We are not only there to point out obligations, but also what you are entitled to from a tax perspective.”
Pensioners and even small children get money back
“For small jobs, too much tax is often withheld. And a refund is also often possible for retirees with several small pensions,” says Daman.
“For them, (elderly) discounts are sometimes not fully settled by the SVB (Social Insurance Bank) pension funds because they have multiple pensions. So they paid too much taxes. For that group, the amounts they can get back are becoming increasingly higher. If I do my own Take your mother as an example: she was able to get 50 euros back in 2016, now 500.”
There is even a group of just over two thousand children under the age of twelve who are being approached. This concerns, for example, children who received an orphan’s benefit from which too much tax was withheld. “We will send a letter to their parents or guardians.”
60 percent still file a report
It is expected that 60 percent of the half million letter recipients will still collect their refund by submitting a tax return. “Why don’t more people take action? This has to do with language or information deficits among these people,” says Daman. “Or with distrust towards the government. Will I really get money back and not have to pay it back?”
“We want more people to take action. That is why we will also call part of the group in November and offer them help. People will also receive a reminder in January.”
Whether and how much money the half million people will get back is not entirely certain. In theory, the person may also have to pay extra because he or she has earned more than is known to the tax authorities.
“That is why we do not mention any amounts in the letter that they would get back. The fact that you have to pay back is the case in less than 1 percent of the cases, as it turned out last year. If that is the case, you should actually have filed a tax return before July 1. otherwise you are in violation.”
There may be more than 444 euros waiting
The Tax Authorities hope that people who receive this letter will learn from it. And that they will immediately report the crime in the future. Daman: “Once young people have received that letter once, they are more fiscally aware and often just file a tax return next year. But then there is a new group of fifteen-year-olds who have just started working at the supermarket.”
For some, there is even more money waiting for them than the estimated refund of an average of 444 euros. They have five years to file a tax return. The Tax Authorities therefore expect that if you still request a refund for 2022, you may also check whether there was still a refund in 2021 or previous years.
2023-09-29 03:10:15
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