Important Milestone Achieved

Important update – Milestone Achieved

As you may already know, our legal advisors of Taxperience have been trying to conclude an agreement with the Dutch tax authorities as of October 2020 to come to a practical approach of our legal proceedings. Purpose of this agreement is not to end the pending legal discussions immediately, but to make the process of coming to a decision as easy as possible by removing as much as possible administrative burden to both parties. We are extremely pleased to share that on June 8, such an agreement finally(!) has been signed.

During the coming weeks we expect to inform all participants in batches about the exact implications for their personal situation. Please be patient with us and allow us some time as Taxperience did agree that a large part of the community is covered under this agreement and is still trying to extend the scope of the agreement to more participants.

Preparing for Legal Efforts, Part 13

UPDATE FROM THE LEGAL TEAM: FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH SIGNED POWER OF ATTORNEY

The Agreement
During the last couple of weeks, the legal team has met frequently with the Dutch tax authorities to come to an agreement that will end all paperwork and that will allow as many possible participants to be covered under this agreement. You may recall that initially the tax authorities were reluctant to include participants that changed employers after 1 January 2019 in the agreement. They have now agreed to conclude a separate agreement for this category of participants. Another important item that has been added to the agreement is that it will also cover the box 3 tax (partial resident taxpayer status).

The legal team is still working on finalizing the agreement. Once it is officially signed, we expect that you will receive a confirmation from the Dutch tax authorities that you are covered under the agreement. Please note that an explanation of the agreement and the corresponding consequences for you as individual taxpayer will be shared upfront.

Critical Documentation That You Must Still Submit

Please note that, in order to be covered by the agreement, you will need to send at least one complete and timely letter of contest to the Dutch tax authorities. As most of you have already sent several letters (seems a long time ago we sent the first objection letters!), you only must ensure that the objections are complete. One of the items that is still missing for most of you is a copy of the addendum. You must send this addendum to the tax authorities.

About the Addendum. The attachment of this email shows an example of the document you should be looking for. If you are not able to find it, we recommend asking your employer to find it for you. The addendum can be a separate document, or the text of the addendum can be included in your employment contract. The tax authorities need a copy of your addendum (or employment contract if embedded in the addendum). If you have no addendum, we recommend you and your employer to establish one (the attachment can be used) and to send this to the tax authorities.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF NO ADDENDUM IS PROVIDED, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM THE AGREEMENT

Mailing the Addendum. The addendum should be sent, in hard copy, to the Dutch tax authorities by regular mail. The address to use is: Belastingdienst | Postbus 8738 | 4820 BA BREDA

Please make sure to provide (by writing this on the addendum itself, on a separate Post-it note, or in a short accompanying letter):

  1. Your name

  2. Your BSN

  3. GBV-number. This is the number that is mentioned under ‘Ons kenmerk’ in the letters of the Dutch tax authorities in which they confirm receipt of your letter of contest and looks like: 91321.111111.1.0 If you have more than one GBV, please mention just one.

Please also email a copy of the addendum to the legal team of Taxperience, this can be a scanned version. Please make sure to mention ADDENDUM in the subject line of your email.

FORTHCOMING SURVEY

In addition to this information, we will be sending out a survey (via email) later this week to those who have submitted a power of attorney form. In the survey, we will we ask you to update the information we have on record. This will allow us to make sure that you are covered under the agreement with the Dutch tax authorities. We will include detailed instructions how and where to send the addendum in this survey. To facilitate this process, below you can find the information that the survey will be requesting so that you can be prepared:

 Information to be requested in survey

  1. Full name

  2. BSN

  3. Start date of your (first) 30%-ruling

  4. Did you change employers after 1 January 2019? Yes/No

  5. If yes, during which year(s)? 2019/2020/2021 (multiple answers possible)

  6. Confirmation that you sent a copy of the addendum to the Dutch tax authorities and Taxperience

FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT

As a final step, you will have to inform the Dutch tax authorities about the financial impact of losing your 30%-ruling on a month-by-month basis. The legal team will provide guidance how you can calculate this yourself (or you can ask your employer for assistance). This information will organized and gathered at a later date by UENL/TAXPERIENCE.

We know this journey is long. Thank you for your ongoing support and participation!

Preparing for Legal Efforts, Part 12

Below we try to summarize key questions that are currently coming in, and also highlight a VERY IMPORTANT Action Step that must be done before this Sunday. Please read this message in its entirety.

URGENT STEP by THIS SUNDAY - 19 September

If you have not submitted your power of attorney to Taxperience yet, PLEASE DO SO BY THIS SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER. If you have already submitted objection letters to the Belastingdienst, it is essential that you do this. We are still missing some members of the community. If you do not submit your POA, Taxperience cannot include you on their list and you will not be part of the agreement with the Tax Authority. See Step 1 of the Take Action Step for the form (https://www.adealisadeal.nl/take-action) 

 If you have not yet filed objection letters, you can wait to submit your POA until this starts – or you can opt to submit your POA now. Either way, you need a POA on file with Taxperience when you begin submitting objection letters.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHY ARE WE WORKING ON AN AGREEMENT WITH THE TAX AUTHORITIES WHEN WE ARE GOING TO COURT?

I understand that this process is confusing. We have 4 exemplar cases going to court. In the meanwhile, we need to make sure that every other individual case would benefit from any “win” of these 4-cases. To do this, we need to come to an agreement with the Tax Authorities. Until an agreement is achieved, all affected individuals must submit individual monthly objections to their wages. Once an agreement is achieved between the legal team and the Tax Authorities, we anticipate that the monthly objection letters will not be needed. Instead, you will submit monthly information to Taxperience about your salary. More details about this process is forthcoming once the agreement is (hopefully) reached. 

WHAT IS THE STATUS UPDATE OF THE AGREEMENT?

Taxperience met with the Tax Authorities again this week. They still have some points that they must discuss internally, but we anticipate that a draft agreement will be ready in the next 2-weeks. As Taxperience finalizes paperwork on their side, it is absolutely critical that everyone that has already objected submits a signed Power of Attorney. Taxperience is going to review their inbox for any new submissions. If you have NOT YET submitted your power of attorney with signature, you must do this before THIS Sunday 19 September to be included in the agreement. This is critical. 

WHAT DO I DO IF THE TAX AUTHORITIES REQUEST INFORMATION OR A HEARING?

We suggest that you comply with all requests for information but request a delay on decision until the agreement with Taxperience is finalized. A draft response letter is available on our website (under Step 3). In your correspondence, we would recommend you include a signed copy of your power of attorney with Taxperience. 

WHAT DO I DO IF THE DELAY PERIOD WITH THE TAX AUTHORITIES HAS (ALMOST) EXPIRED AND A HEARING HAS BEEN REQUESTED?
For many members of the community, the time frame is near expiration from their requested delay (or the delay was not approved). A draft email is now available on our website (Under Step 4 - Hearing Request) whereby you will note that Taxperience is your authorized representative.  Please include a copy of your signed power of attorney letter in your email correspondence with the Tax Authorities for completeness.