Income tax: no invitation to file received. That is possible. Is that the same as not needing to file the income tax return? Of course not, you ought to know the law, they say.
Income tax: no invitation to file received
An invitation to file sounds like a form of kindness from our Dutch Government. You are invited to pay your tax. It has a friendliness over it, obviously that is a façade to persuade the Dutch tax residents to file.
In the first quarter of 2023 we had 9,7 million people doing paid work in the Netherlands, in the age of 15-75 years old. If everybody is asked to file their tax return, the Dutch tax office cannot cope. Therefore the employers of all these employees have to withhold the correct amount of tax. Wage tax that is, including employee social premiums. If the salary is the only taxable aspect of the concerning employee, then wage tax equals income tax and no tax return needs to be filed.
This method reduces the 9,7 mln potential tax returns to a significant much lower amount of tax filers.
Who is being invited to file?
Invited to file the income tax return is that employee who had two employers or more in one calendar year. The tax resident who owns a house serving as their main residence. The entrepreneur running his ZZP or freelance company.
The managing director and shareholder of his or her own limited company. The tax resident that owns more in world wide assets than the threshold amount. A person who filed the tax return in the previous year and actually paid tax, is invited again, to see if more can be collected.
That are the indications, most of them.
No invitation received to file
The Dutch Government states that you ought to need to know the law. Most Dutch have no idea about the law, and I expect most non Dutch have neither a correct idea of the law. It would be too simple to state that you do not know the law hence no need to file. Therefore the word ought has been invented.
If you know the law, you know that you are obliged to file an income tax return when it is clear to you or it should have been clear to you that you need to pay tax. You are to file the income tax return not later than 2 weeks after the official deadline. The official deadline of the income tax return is May 1.
When do you need to pay tax?
You know you need to pay tax if you had two or more employers in one calendar year. When you have a company, own your house, exceed the threshold in Box 3.
Then again, the two employers could have withheld too much tax, so you get a refund. The house you own is often a tax deductible aspect and your company could have made a loss.
Until you file the tax return, the Dutch tax office does not know the content of your tax return, hence the obligation to file.
Can we file a tax return without invitation?
Yes you can. The migration tax return is the famous example. Often such a tax return results in a tax refund, hence the tax office is not too pro active to issue those tax returns. We can create that tax return and file on your behalf.
The property you own in the Netherlands, while you life abroad, is taxed in the Netherlands. Maybe the invitation has been lost in the mail. That does not need to stop you from filing.
Tax is exciting
We think tax is exciting and we are excited for file your income tax return. Our fees are fixed and you can find them on the website.
