Dear Editor,
It appears as if pensioners are the ones who are carrying the load when it comes to the paying taxes. They are seemingly the ones pursued more than ever because of being the low hanging fruits. I am yet to have a discussion with a pensioner who is not complaining about the manner in which they are being taxed.
If I am not mistaken I heard the Minister of finance state that they are working on a law to exempt our SZV income from being taxed, a good gesture indeed but when will this happen. Can pensioners bankrupt government if the taxes they owe are cancelled, can pensioners bankrupt government if some of the taxes owed are reduced, can pensioners bankrupt government if they are allowed to pay what they can afford instead of insisting they that they pay large amounts within a short period of time regardless of their financial condition?
What makes matters worse, we are in 2025 your taxes have been filed and up to date. Then you receive a summons saying that you owe taxes for 2020?? You are told that it must be paid within the shortest time possible. Whose fault is it that they are way behind in their assessments? And now they want you to pay almost immediately or prove that based on your income and expenses the amount they request you to repay is unreasonable and that the requested period is not feasible. In my opinion it is immoral and insensitive.
I will be the last to say that it is not our responsibility to pay taxes but assessing one 5 years after the fact is very unprofessional and demanding almost immediate payment? This has been happening for too many years, the laws and the system is too outdated and does not reflect reality. Especially at present with rising food prices, electricity bills, building materials and the list goes on which will put a large dent into our income. A pensioner said to me about two or three weeks ago that it seems that they wait until you reach the pensionable age to harass and stress you.
I am quite aware that government derives the majority of her income from taxes but reality is that there are those who are still not paying their share. Tax compliance has been a discussion for ages and that is all, no action to address this very serious issue.
Sorry they are working on it by pressuring the pensioners. What is government doing about the casino and lottery fees? If I can recall, some casino fees in the millions were written off because of COVID19.
But I have a problem, which is the following; some 14 to 15 years ago during a budget meeting, I found out that the ordinance governing collection of casino fees of 50 thousand guilders a month was established in 1989 some 36 years ago and to date has not been changed, but going after the pensioners seems to be much easier. Government is losing millions by not changing this outdated law.
There is a lot of complaints about the turnover tax but are they paying the right amounts? How is government controlling or not controlling this? Or are they depending on the good morals of businesses?
On another note, is Government still repaying the illegal debt of 12.7 million guilders? It can better be used to pay our law enforcement officers, our teachers and, yes, other social responsibilities. But of course it is not important, just keep it on the backburner. Can pensioners bankrupt government?
George Pantophlet
