Dutch lower court rules on 16% crisis tax
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In May 2014 the District Court in The Hague issued the first decisions in numerous court cases against the 16% crisis tax which we wrote about in a previous update.
The Court ruled in favour of the tax authorities, the arguments against the crisis tax having been weakened following the Supreme Court’s decision of 20 June 2014 in relation to the employer only tax on excessive termination payments. In both cases, an appeal may succeed if it can be shown that the tax creates an individual and excessive burden.
For both taxes the salary earned prior to the relevant legislation entering into force is included in the basis for taxation. We refer you to the separate article on the employer tax on excessive leave bonuses.
Please note that the crisis tax, although comparable, is not identical with the employer tax on excessive leave bonuses. Therefore, a tailor-made approach is required in each situation.
Resources
Recent cases (in Dutch language):
For further information or to discuss the consequences of the above, please contact Hans van Ruiten on +31 10 224 6 418 or Rina Driece on +31 10 224 6 424 at Loyens & Loeff Rotterdam.
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