Did the top Ministry of Finance commit perjury? Was the missing explosive memo known?
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Kartje's benefits affair: did top Finance commit perjury and was the 'disappeared' explosive memo known?
The benefits affair may get a head start for senior officials who were interviewed under oath by the parliamentary committee of inquiry. The case revolves around an explosive memo, which said three years ago that the tax authorities acted “reprehensively”.
Hanneke Keultjes
Sunday, December 27, 2020 at 6:39 PM
State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Finance) stated on December 14 that the top of the tax authorities did not know the memo. But the parliamentary interrogation committee on surcharges drew the opposite conclusion in its final report.
Next month, the committee, led by CDA MP Chris van Dam, will compare information from the interrogations conducted under oath with existing documents and investigate whether perjury was committed during the interrogations. “Then we will make our final verdict,” says Van Dam, emphasizing that there is “no immediate reason” for the extra check.
Disappeared
The Memo Palmen was written in March 2017 by lawyer Sandra Palmen-Schlangen. The piece was supposed to be archived but disappeared. During her interrogation before the House of Representatives Committee, Palmen stated that she had “never experienced” her advice not being followed before. Had that happened, many parents would have been spared a lot of trouble. Instead, the tax authorities continued to accuse parents of fraud, resulting in wage garnishment and evictions.
The former boss of the tax authorities, Jaap Uijlenbroek, stated during his interrogation that the memo had reached him “in no way” except through the media. However, the memo will be mentioned in the ministry's fact sheets in June 2019, when the extent of the errors in the childcare allowance comes to light. Those documents were then discussed by, among others, then Secretary of State Menno Snel and Uijlenboek.
The Van Dam report also states that in that conversation, the 'DGBD', the Director General of the Tax Administration, was instructed to find out where the memo was discussed. Uijlenbroek had that position at the time. However, in his interrogation, he said that he was “unable to reconstruct that conversation exactly in detail”. The fact is that in a second set of these documents, the reference to the Memo palms had disappeared.
Reconstruction
Only early this month, the memo — unpainted — will be made public by Van Huffelen. Last week, CDA MP Pieter Omtzigt asked Parliamentary questions about the issue. He wants a precise reconstruction, which should clarify who the Memo Palms was discussed with and what was exchanged. In an earlier timeline that the House received from the Secretary of State, the Memo palms did not appear.
Last Tuesday, the cabinet decided to accelerate the compensation operation: all affected parents will be transferred 30,000 euros as compensation for the suffering within four months. Parents who are entitled to a higher compensation amount are still eligible. On Sunday, January 3, the most involved administrators in the cabinet will meet for the second time in the Catshuis to discuss the tough final report of the parliamentary interrogation committee.
Taken from the Limburger.
The Limburger
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