From August, the government is expected to work almost exclusively on compensating the victims of the Allowance scandal, who are given priority by the judge. That is in a published last week letter to parliament by State Secretary Aukje de Vries (Supplementary Benefits, VVD). Due to the long wait, more and more benefit parents have turned to court, as a result of which the Implementing Body for Recovery of Allowances (UHT) of the Tax Authorities will soon have to focus almost entirely on them.
The UHT received a total of 711 appeals from parents, who were proved right by the judge because of the statutory waiting period of one year that was exceeded by the government. De Vries expects the tipping point in August due to the increase in the monthly number of occupations: in March there were 88, in May 280. De Vries expects this monthly number to continue to rise. In total are sure 24,000 households and 60,000 children duped. More than 1,600 children were removed from their homes.
Parents who do not go to court have to wait even longer for financial settlement due to the appeals. According to the latest planning, anyone who has registered as a victim at the end of 2021 or in 2022 will not be due for a so-called integral assessment until 2025 or 2026. Only when there is “urgency”, the UHT can handle cases of parents who have not gone to court, according to De Vries. In addition, not all parents who have gone to court can receive priority if the number of appeals continues to increase after August. The government is then expected to pay penalty payments more often.