WILLEMSTAD - The Joint Court of Justice has reprimanded Minister of Finance Javier Silvania. The minister announced earlier this year in his usual manner (via Facebook) that all tax debts from before 2018 would be forgiven.
After it became clear that the amount was between 5 to 6 billion guilders, the minister backtracked. With a press release dated April 3rd, the Ministry of Finance attempted to repair the damage by stating that certain categories of claims were exempt from the clean-up operation.
In response to written questions from Member of Parliament Roelien Kamminga of the Dutch ruling party VVD, State Secretary Van Huffelen referred to the exceptions in opposing the claim that all claims had been torn up. Indeed, the affected taxpayers were urged by the Tax Authority to pay old assessments, but some appealed.
With success, as the Court has ruled that Silvania's promise was unconditional and thus applies to all claims from 2017 and earlier. The later announced exceptions only apply from April 3rd, the Court emphasized in a press release. Despite the painful verdict for him, the minister declared himself satisfied.