The Tax and Customs Administration already received 6.7 million returns in March, almost 400,000 more than last year. This means that the number of declarations is on course for a new record.
In recent years, approximately 9.6 million people filed tax returns. This year we seem to have reached the mark of 10 million tax returns. Partly on request: the Tax and Customs Administration sent out 8.8 million invitations, half a million more than in the past two years.
Every year, many people also file a declaration who were not invited to do so, for example because they could get a refund. In recent years, this amounted to 1.3 million declarations.
The income tax return must be submitted before May 1. If you have submitted your tax return before April 1, the Tax and Customs Administration guarantees that you will receive an answer before July 1 about how much you will get back or have to pay. In difficult economic times, the Dutch may therefore choose to file tax returns early.
Almost two million postponements have been requested
In addition, people have already requested an extension of 1.8 million times until September 1. The vast majority of this comes from tax advisers who prepare tax returns for clients. Last year, people applied for a postponement 3 million times in March and April combined.
This year there are no problems with the tax telephone, which people can call with questions. In recent years, people had to wait longer than an hour. This was partly due to a shortage of personnel. According to the Tax and Customs Administration, people now wait an average of eight minutes.
“80 percent of the people who call are answered on time. That is much better than in previous years and in line with what we want,” says a spokesperson. In recent years, less than half of the callers eventually got someone on the line.
Questions about divorce
Questions mainly come from people who have just sold and bought a home. There are also many questions from people who want to know how to fill in the tax return after a divorce. “These are themes that receive many questions every year,” says the spokesperson.
“The tax return season is going smoothly and quietly. There have been no major disruptions,” says the spokesperson. At the same time, at the beginning of March, people were unable to log in to the tax return program for a day and a half due to a malfunction at DigiD, not at the Tax and Customs Administration itself. It is not possible to say whether this has led to a delay in the declarations, according to the tax authorities.
