Duty to provide information

The tax authorities fully inform judges, and that is worrying, says the Inspectorate

Tax office employees decide for themselves which documents to provide to judges.

This article was written by Emiel Hakkenes Published on September 16, 2025, 9:31 AM

It has been in the law for years: if a citizen of a company takes the tax authorities to court, the service must provide the “documents related to the case” to the court. This concerns all relevant documents so that the judge can make a fair ruling.

This legal obligation means that the tax authorities are not always located. That is worrying, according to the Inspectorate of Taxes, Fees and Customs. Indeed, decisions made by the tax authorities can have a major impact on people's lives. That is why it is important that the service is reliable, honest and transparent.

The Inspectorate has been around since 2022 and ensures fair and proven treatment for people when dealing with taxes, surcharges or customs matters. The establishment of the Inspectorate resulted, among other things, from the benefits affair.

Missing information

The Inspectorate has now investigated the files that the tax authorities provide for lawsuits. Every year, it happens around 25,000 times that a citizen or company appeals to court against a decision by the tax authorities. During the argument, it sometimes becomes clear that the tax authorities have provided an incomplete file. Sometimes it is strange to the judge that certain information is missing, and it appears that the tax authorities still have documents about it. Sometimes a citizen of a company also knows that a document (e.g. a note or an e-mail) exists even though it is not in the file. Combined with, the tax authorities break the law.

The Inspectorate looked at published court rulings from the years 2022 and 2023 and found more than 350 examples where it was established that the tax authorities had spoken to the court incompletely.

According to a confirmation from the Inspectorate, the question whether that is a high number is difficult to answer. Indeed, the tax authorities themselves do not keep track of how often the judge finds that the service has not met its obligation to provide information. Also, not every court verdict is made public. As a result, the actual number of incomplete files is probably higher.

Moreover, the Inspectorate was particularly interested in the question of how it is possible that the tax authorities did not provide all the information to the court. The Inspectorate concludes that employees of the tax authorities think in court. They seem convinced that they themselves know which documents a judge needs for the ruling. Including “the legal protection of citizens and companies is at stake,” according to the Inspectorate.

Deep disappointment in the government

The Inspectorate selected five examples in detail and spoke to the people who had started a successful one and their lawyers. “She says that the case has had a profound impact on their business life, their personal life and, in some cases, their health and family life. Historical ones indicate that they have seen their existence wiped out or that everything has been destroyed. For several investors, the experience with the tax authorities leads to deep disappointment in the government. '

The tax authorities do not recognize themselves in the image of the Inspectorate. The service calls the inspection report “not scientifically reliable”. The Inspectorate disputed that and calls on the tax authorities to learn from the criticism and to implement them. That is the responsibility of Finance Minister Heinen. Heinen has informed the House of Representatives that he will issue a substantive response to the inspection report in mid-October.

Lawyer: 'Same case, different documents'

Schiedam lawyer Suzanne Arakelyan participated in the fact that not all documents in the court file were in the case of an allowance parent. “I mainly have two proceedings, before the court and at the College of Human Rights. The second file contained different documents than in the first, while it was about the same case.”

She is apparently considering that case against the Implementation Body for Recovery of Allowances, and not against the tax authorities. But according to the Inspectorate of Taxes, Surcharges and Customs, it is' likely 'that the pattern of incomplete informing the court also occurs in 'other cases'.

Arakelyan: “If a file turns out to be incomplete, as a lawyer, you will be told that it is an incident. I find that hard to believe, files are incompletely structured. I also sometimes raised this with the Inspectorate. This should be investigated much more extensively.”

The problem with incomplete files, says Arakelyan, is that they can have direct consequences for citizens seeking justice. “For a benefit parent, the appropriate amount of compensation he or she can receive.”

In addition, for the lawyer, it is a matter of principle. “When I assist a client, I want to assess for myself what information is important in the case; the other party cannot determine that. Not for me and not in court.”

Professor: 'Immerse yourself in the citizens'

Kees van den Bos, professor of empirical law at Utrecht University, notes that the Tax, Surcharges and Customs Inspectorate has issued a good report. Van den Bos calls it 'worrying' that the tax authorities are not complying with the legal obligation to provide information. “Officials are going too far with that.”

Van den Bos is researching “procedural justice”, the question of what it takes to ensure that people feel heard, seen and valued, for example in their contact with the judicial authorities. The way the tax authorities work, as outlined by the inspectorate, does not contribute to this, according to Van den Bos. “While there have been difficult training courses for officials to improve contact with citizens for years. That sucks, awkward.”

According to Van den Bos, people who feel unappreciated, or who are difficult to explain, are presumed to be in distrust, polarization or conspiracy thinking. Despite the fact that the inspectorate notes that the employees of the tax authorities “pay little or no attention to the (human) relationship with citizens and companies and the emotions that can play a role in this”. Van den Bos wants to remind officials once again: “Immerse yourself in what's going on with people.”

Also read:

Our collection page about the Allowance affair.

Sandra Palmen wants to be the last minister before recovering from the benefits affair.

Secretary of State Sandra Palmen hopes that the circle will soon be complete with claims handling the benefits affair . “We finally have to show something.”