Tax Inspectorate boss wants to abolish the allowance system

NOS News•Monday, April 24, 9:33 AMTax Inspectorate boss wants to abolish the allowance systemBecause of the Dutch allowance system, people still run into financial problems every day. That is why the system must be abolished as soon as possible, says Inspector General Bart Snels, head of the Tax, Surcharges and Customs Inspectorate, in Trouw.Every year, 150,000 households have to pay back care, rent or any other allowance because they did not report anything on time. This involves, for example, a change in their income or household composition.” We ask people to do the impossible and have placed all financial risks with citizens,” says Snels. “With the surcharges, we are affecting people's livelihoods.” According to him, the problem does not lie with the officials, who are trying to do “the right thing”, but with the system itself.'I wouldn't even be able to do that'If government agencies go wrong with transmitting data to the tax authorities and the Department of Surcharges, the surcharges are often reduced or stopped immediately. According to Snels, that is a major problem.” We expect people to fight that conflict with the other government agency themselves, even if they have done nothing wrong. And if that works, they should then also try to get the surcharges back themselves. We ask a lot of people. I'll say honestly: I couldn't even do that. I'm really shocked that the system works like this.” Another fundamental problem is that people must predict what will happen in their households in the coming year. “But you don't know if you're going to divorce, live together, or if your partner dies, do you? Surely you don't know if one of your children will suddenly move back home, go to work and thus have their own income? But all these changes do have direct consequences for the right to benefits. And if you don't report them on time, you'll immediately get high recoveries.” Because the system is so complicated, and because many people have had a bad experience with the benefits system, hundreds of thousands of citizens are afraid to apply for a supplement, says Snels. “They are afraid of the high recoveries, or because of the benefits affair. There are also people who don't even find their way to benefits, or don't know how to apply for them. As a result, you get legal inequality between groups of citizens, and social inequality that is highly undesirable.” According to the inspector general, the only solution is to abolish the entire system. Implementing organizations and municipalities are also calling for this. “We can keep expanding in better services, but that won't solve the problem. That is why politics must now clarify which way we are going with the system. The House has been talking about it for about six years, and the coalition has also said it wants to get rid of the surcharges.”Solution is complicatedAbolishing is one step, but replacing the benefits system with a new system is very complicated, notes Snels. “There are countless buttons to turn, including political differences. The government finds it difficult to lead this.” According to Snels, the fact that there are many islands in the government does not help either. “One department is reforming the housing allowance, the other with the health allowance, and a third with the childcare allowance. And there is also a Secretary of State for Allowances who has the task of thinking about a whole new system. This is reflected in the House of Representatives. I'm not talking about it, but it would be good if the House came to a single thematic committee on benefits or social security.” The Tax, Surcharges and Customs Inspectorate was set up a year ago to detect the problems that citizens face with the government. The Inspectorate must also provide solutions for this. An important task is to ensure that the human touch is not forgotten in government legislation, implementation and services. The Inspectorate must operate independently and was set up after the benefits affair to help restore trust in the government. Bart Snels, former Member of Parliament for GroenLinks, was appointed inspector general by the cabinet last year.