Netherlands: Class-action-plus procedure for ex-officio reduction in “Box 3” (wealth tax) liability
A “class-action-plus” procedure under which non-litigants will not be required to request to join class action
Class-action-plus procedure for ex-officio reduction in “Box 3”
The Deputy Minister of Finance on 4 November 2022 sent a letter to the Lower House of Parliament in which he promised to institute a “class-action-plus” procedure under which non-litigants will not be required to request to join the class action relating to the restoration of rights under “Box 3” (the wealth tax regime).
Background
The Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) in December 2021 held that the Box 3 tax regime for the years 2017-2022 was contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Deputy Minister of Finance said on “Budget Day” (20 September 2022) that taxpayers who did not file an objection or had not joined the class-action appeal against their individual (personal) income tax assessment and whose assessment was irrevocable at the time of the Supreme Court judgment did not qualify for restoration of rights.
Non-litigants have recently started inundating the tax authority with requests for a reduction in their individual (personal) income tax assessments.
KPMG observation
The procedure proposed by the Deputy Minister of Finance will allow non‑litigants to benefit, for the years 2017 through 2020, from the litigation proceedings that will be conducted about the restoration of rights in Box 3 for non-litigants.
Read a November 2022 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in the Netherlands
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