Being a Dutch tax resident implies you need to report your world wide assets when the value exceeds the threshold. What if you forgot, did not know about this, or simply was too lazy to make the effort? Then there is still hope, the 2015 amnesty rule.
Late filing fines
The obligation to file your world wide assets in your income tax return comes with a penalty if you have not done so. The fine is 75% of the tax due over your wealth in case of obvious guilt in not reporting. This percentage increases to 150% in case of deliberately not reported the world wide wealth. The fine percentage increases to a substantial 300% incase of fraud or being a repeating offender.
2015 amnesty rule
The 2015 Dutch tax amnesty rule implies that you will not be fined if you have not reported the two most recent years of world wide assets in your income tax return. Today it is January 16, 2015 hence we assume with two most recent years is referred to the years 2013 and 2012 as the year 2014 cannot be filed yet. From May 1 onwards the two most recent years are 2014 and 2013.
You are too late to qualify under this 2015 amnesty rule when the tax office has already made inquiries about your world wide assets or announced an audit that is going to be done.
The most likely persons to qualify under this rule are the tax residents that immigrated over the past two years who had already substantial assets that exceed the Dutch threshold. Sometimes Dutch tax residents have the opinion that foreign money for which already tax on interest was paid, or foreign shares/stock for which dividend withholding tax has already been deducted, that those funds do not need to be reported in the Dutch tax return. This is not correct. Your full world wide assets need to be reported and for some aspects there is a double taxation relief.
30% ruling
In the event you arrived during the two most recent tax years and you have been granted the 30% ruling . In that case you are not required to file the world wide wealth tax return if you opted to be regarded a deemed non resident.
Orange Tax Services
If you are a Dutch tax resident that would like to make use of the 2015 amnesty rule, then we will be glad to assist. Please contact one of our tax advisors at the Haarlem or Amsterdam office.