Peter Gillis is required to pay 1.5 million euros in tourist tax due to the extended stays of labor migrants at his holiday park in Ommel. A judge issued this ruling on Thursday.

Gillis had contested the assessments imposed by tax authorities and took the matter to court. However, the tax authorities have now prevailed in the legal dispute. Gillis contends that the municipality is attempting to address its financial deficits by targeting him.

“They slaughtered the chicken with the golden eggs,that was Prinsenmeer,” Gillis stated,expressing his dissatisfaction with the outcome.

the tax in question covers the period from 2014 to 2021. Gillis argued that he should not be liable for this tax,suggesting that employment agencies that rented accommodations at the park should be responsible rather.

The judge disagreed with GillisS position, ruling that he is correctly identified as the taxpayer. The court found that the tax official provided a concrete justification for the assessments, and Gillis failed to present sufficient evidence to counter it. His defense primarily relied on a completed questionnaire regarding his tax liability.

Gillis also claimed that the assessment amounts were unverifiable for him, but the judge dismissed this argument. The assessments were based on data derived from Gillis’s own administration. The judge detailed how the amounts were calculated using this data.

Furthermore, Gillis has a history of convictions for several tax offenses. These convictions indicate a lack of systematic registration of overnight stays and the destruction of relevant proof at the Ommel holiday park. The actual number of overnight stays was likely higher than what Gillis’s records indicated. Consequently, the judge concluded that the assessments were more likely to be too low than too high.

This ruling mandates that Peter Gillis pay the assessed taxes for the years 2014 thru 2021, totaling over 1.5 million euros. It remains unclear whether he has already paid these taxes and will not be reimbursed, or if he must pay them retroactively.

in his response, Peter Gillis expressed his belief that the municipality is seeking funds to resolve its financial shortfalls. He attributed these deficits to the municipality itself, reiterating his sentiment that they “slaughtered the chicken with the golden eggs, that was Prinsenmeer.” Gillis described the park as a “money machine” for the municipality.