The Dutch tax amnesty turns out to be a big success. Not only for the tax office that receives much more tax revenues, but also for us, the tax professionals assisting the private individuals. What is the case?
The Dutch tax office had learned via foreign bank information that a lot of Dutch tax residents hold bank accounts abroad that were not reported to the tax office so far. The Dutch tax office had the opinion that this was money made by what is referred to as black turnover (not reported turnover) or other sources of income conflicting with the Dutch tax system.
The rule is that if you are a Dutch tax resident then you need to report your world wide assets and income in the Netherlands.
A side effect of this amnesty rule is that a number of ‘expats’ realized that they have filed their tax returns incorrectly in the past. Since it has been in the news about the reporting of the world wide assets due to the fact that you are a Dutch tax resident, they realized that they have done it wrong.
What have they done wrong? They hold assets or bank balances abroad and pay locally tax on the interest, dividend or on the income of real estate. However, besides the tax that is due in the country where the asset is sitting, the assets is also taxed in the Netherlands. Double taxation relief is provided where required.
As a result of the amnesty campaign a lot of expats used the opportunity to prevent paying the 300% penalty on not reported tax by using the amnesty possibility.
If the above applies to you, please do not wait too long, as missing the June 30th, 2014 deadline in this case is a waste of money in the form of fines.
