News item | 02-07-2025 | 15:26
Surcharges Department will approach people proactively who are entitled to a surcharge but have not yet applied for them. Furthermore, the service started with an experiment to recognize and reduce problematic debts earlier. In addition, supervision of serious abuse of allowances is carefully scaled up at the end of 2025. This is what State Secretary Sandra Palmen writes to the House of Representatives in her periodic progress report.
“We have recently focused our focus on ensuring that people get the allowances they are entitled to. That is important for livelihoods. Furthermore, I am happy with all the new collaborations that we have started to be able to achieve and support the people who are most needed. People can and may be mistaken, but if there is Palis, but this must also be aware.
Proactively approach
Surcharges Department has investigated the so-called non-use of allowances. This showed that in 2021 about 12 percent of the people who were entitled to healthcare allowance did not make use of it. The housing allowance involved around 11 percent, the child -related budget about 8% and the childcare allowance around 3%. In order to prevent this non-use of allowances, the Surcharges Department actively pointed out more than 200,000 people in July of their possible right to care allowance for the year 2024. They now have until 1 September 2025 to request a healthcare allowance.
Preventing recovery
In order to prevent unexpected recovery, the Surcharge Department tests various new methods: a careful advance and adjusting income data during the year. In 2026 a pilot will start where people can opt for a lower advance on their surcharges: 80% of the calculated amount. This is useful in cases where the future income is not yet clear and may be higher than is initially estimated. Research shows that around 60% of people would choose this. In addition, the Supplements Department will inform people who have not implemented an income increase in the system of surcharges. If they then do not make any adjustment in the system themselves, the Surcharge Service adjusts the advance itself to prevent a high recovery. People can of course reverse this if they themselves expect that this does not lead to a higher recovery.
Early signaling debts
Surcharges Department started an experiment together with the Tax Authorities and ten municipalities on 1 June to signal problematic debts earlier. By sharing data on outstanding claims with municipalities, they can help citizens in time to prevent further debts. Data sharing is of course done in a careful, transparent way.
Intensive supervision of fraud
Surcharges Department started again in 2023 with the supervision of serious abuse of allowances. That supervision will be scaled up at the end of this year. Sanctions are also imposed from that moment on. These are serious cases in which community money is deliberately abused. The process has been carefully started and with the necessary guarantees.