Did the tax authorities discriminate?

Mail from the tax office. In the benefits affair, people wrongly had to repay large amounts. Image: ANP/Laurens van Putten Toeslagen affaireOnly the surcharges for the child with a Turkish surname had to be reimbursed. Did the tax authorities discriminate? Did the tax authorities commit discrimination in the benefits affair? A mother with daughters with different surnames thinks so and went to the College for Human Rights. Emiel Hakkenes March 12, 2024, 15:43 That's for sure: the woman from Overijssel who pleaded her case to the College of Human Rights in Utrecht this Tuesday morning has been recognized as a victim of the benefits affair. She has received financial compensation and an apology letter from Prime Minister Mark Rutte. It is also certain: among the worst victims of the benefits affair, people with a foreign surname are over-represented. This also plays a role in this woman's case; her eldest daughter has her father's Turkish last name. For this daughter, the tax authorities recovered tens of thousands of euros in childcare allowance. “At first, I only thought that gross mistakes had been made,” says the mother. “But it wasn't mistakes, it was intentional.” According to the woman, her human right, namely the right not to be discriminated against, has been violated.Why she thinks that? The allowance was never recovered from her second daughter, with a Dutch-sounding last name. While the two girls lived at the same address and went to the same childcare. Daughter does not enter the systems. The Tax Administration's Department of Benefits has a different view of the facts, says the representative present. That second daughter does not appear in the systems at all. Neither her mother nor her father would have ever applied for childcare allowance for the girl. According to the mother's lawyer, it is “very unlikely” that the woman would apply for an allowance for one daughter and not for her other daughter. But the mother does not have proof that the allowance was requested and granted. The fact remains that the allowance has been recovered for one daughter. According to the tax authorities, this had to do with the fact that the mother had not provided an annual report for several years. As a result, it was impossible to determine whether she might have received too high amounts. The mother insists that she did provide those annual statements. She also says she has filed up to fifteen letters of objection, which she never heard from. On the other hand, these documents were not found in the archives of the Department of Benefits. The woman is not the first allowance parent to go to the College of Human Rights. Last autumn, the Board considered three cases, concluding that in those cases there was no discrimination due to a non-Dutch origin. Dozens of allowance parents have started a case at the Human Rights College. Ruling is not legally binding. In the case of the mother from Overijssel, the college will rule within eight weeks. That ruling is not legally binding. However, someone who has been proven right by the College of Human Rights can file a lawsuit for discrimination. The woman is now living a “reasonably good life” again, she says. But she and her daughters did experience “an enormous trauma” from the benefits affair. She now also has a third daughter. “I just didn't apply for a supplement for her.” Listen also:How imaging made The Hague blind to people and law https://omny.fm/shows/haags-halfuurtje/hoe-beeldvorming-den-haag-blind-maakte-voor-mens-eLees Also:Politics sets unreasonable demands on allowance parents, the judge says Can you expect “allowance parents” who borrowed money from family or friends in their financial distress to be able to prove this with a notary's deed? No, says the judge.