May 1, 2024
The tax filing season has concluded, with the Dutch Tax Office (Belastingdienst) receiving a record number of 10.3 million tax declarations in March and April. Those who submitted their declarations before April 1st will receive notification before July 1st. The first tax assessments were already sent out on April 25th.
"This year, tax declarations came in smoothly and without significant issues. We strive to make the process of filing taxes as easy as possible. And for those finding it challenging, help is always close by. This year, we paid extra attention to this aspect, such as with the Tax Office bus," stated Heleen Bisschoff-Moonen, Director of Individuals at the Dutch Tax Office.
Record Number of Declarations and Increased Assistance
Despite having two months to file their taxes, there is always a surge of submissions in the first days of the tax season. For instance, on March 1st and 2nd, nearly 1.1 million declarations were submitted. The Tax Office has never received such a high number of declarations at the beginning of the filing period.This year, over 41,000 appointments were made for assistance with tax filing by the Dutch Tax Office, about 8,000 more than last year. This increase could be attributed to the various forms of assistance that were highlighted this year.Over 6,000 questions about tax filing were answered via social media, and nearly 436,000 calls were handled by theDutch Tax Office helpline.More than 3.1 million people requested additional time for filing their declarations, with about 313,000 requests coming from individuals and the rest via tax advisors.
New: The Tax Office Bus
Research shows that some people find tax filing to be a challenging task and may need assistance. Help is available in many forms, free of charge and for everyone. To better promote this assistance, the Dutch Tax Office introduced the Tax Office bus this year. It was stationed from March 26th to April 12th at nine locations across the Netherlands, aiming to bring help options closer to people, in line with the campaign promise "A little extra help is never far away".
Declaration Filed, What's Next?
Those who filed their declarations before April 1st will receive notification before July 1st. The Dutch Tax Office aims to send notifications to those who filed after April 1st within 3 months.The received declarations are being reviewed and processed. This ensures that nobody pays too much or too little in taxes.