The House of Representatives still has many questions about the arrangements that are set up for victims of the childcare allowance affair. State Secretary Van Huffelen of Finance had anticipated this and said before the start of the parliamentary debate that she would like to split it into two parts, so that she can also answer questions next week.
The House agreed to this. “I think everyone here in the room wants to compensate the parents, and quickly, but much is still unclear,” said PVV MP Mulder. “We only have one time to get it right,” said CDA member Omtzigt.
The tax authorities will test
Much criticism came from SP Member of Parliament Leijten. She said it was vulnerable that the Tax and Customs Administration itself will test whether mistakes have been made and whether people are eligible for a financial scheme. “So the service that has done it wrong for years has to say, hello, I’m giving myself a red card.” Azarkan van Denk spoke of a “butcher who inspects his own meat”.
Van Huffelen stated that it is a separate group of tax employees who had nothing to do with the affair. “It is important that they can gain confidence. They want to do justice to the parents,” she assured the House.
The allowance affair revolves around thousands of parents who have been wrongfully accused of cheating on childcare allowances. Many people had to repay (ten) thousands of euros and were therefore in financial difficulties. “I have messages from people who cannot feed their children,” illustrated Omtzigt. “I have not seen a greater shame here in recent years.”
Intent / gross negligence
One of the groups that was discussed was that of parents who were wrongly awarded the designation ‘gross negligence’. People got that stamp if, according to the tax authorities, they had given incorrect information.
It turned out that there was not always evidence for this, but the labeled parents did get into trouble. They had to repay everything and were not eligible for a payment plan. Last Monday, the State Secretary already promised that these people can claim the so-called safety net scheme.
Leijten said that people who are in the ‘intentional / gross debt’ category should automatically be eligible for the scheme. “If you were tackled under that heading, you should be able to get compensation,” said the Member of Parliament. “If this is not arranged, it is difficult for the SP to agree to the law.”
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