The VVD, for example, was the only government party to support a call from JA21 to allow the extra VAT revenues to flow back to middle incomes. Due to the rising prices, there is also more tax in the treasury. JA21 leader Eerdmans wants extra billions in VAT that are expected to come in to be used for tax relief.
Minister Kaag (Finance) did not want to do that this week, because moving money in the way is not in accordance with the budget rules. “So, windfalls and setbacks go along with the waves,” she explained in the House this week. “We have an automatic stabilization of the economy. In the event of setbacks, we do not have to increase the costs. It can’t go one way.”
Nevertheless, the minister has to get to work, now that the VVD is the only coalition party to support the JA21 request to let the government find out how the higher VAT revenue can end up in the wallets of the middle class. “Everyday life is no longer affordable,” says Eerdmans. “The energy, living and living costs are skyrocketing. Middle incomes are currently being hit the hardest due to various choices made by the government. By channeling the extra VAT revenue directly to them, we are finally creating some breathing room.”
In another plan, coalition parties D66 and CU ensure a majority in the House. They support a proposal by some opposition parties that calls on the government to increase the tax on profits and wealth, in order to tax labor less with the proceeds.
That point is high on the agenda in the budget discussions in August, in the run-up to Budget Day. D66 and CU have been speaking out loud for a higher wealth tax for some time. At the end of this week, the outcome of an investigation into the distribution of wealth in the Netherlands will be published.