THE HAGUE - The introduction of a new system for taxing the return on assets (box 3) is in danger of being further delayed. The Tax and Customs Administration has announced that it is currently very busy compensating people who were the victims of serious flaws in this levy. As a result, insufficient capacity is left to fully introduce the new system "in its current form" in 2027. 

This is what State Secretary Folkert Idsinga (Finance) reports to the House of Representatives. Further delays could cost a lot of money. The treasury is already losing billions in the coming two years because the court has overturned the existing system, and a new one has not yet come into effect. 

Idsinga has asked the tax authorities to map out "alternative implementation options." He hopes that, for example, tax can still be collected via the new system in 2027 through a phased implementation. The tax authorities must also consider whether ICT investments made as part of the recovery operation could also benefit the implementation of the new system. 

The box 3 levy was based on an assumed return that savers and investors would make on their assets. However, in the years when interest rates were extremely low, they did not achieve that return in practice by a long shot. After a series of legal cases, it has now been established that this system cannot continue. That is why there is now a tax on the actual return achieved. 

The Box 3 tax on real investment income was originally due to be introduced in 2025. However, this will now be delayed by three years due to the Supreme Court's ruling, which ordered a massive revision of tax assessments for the new forms of wealth tax. Each year of postponement could cost the treasury around 2 billion euros, the Volkskrant reports.