The CDA and BBB have asked the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the State Secretary of Finance for clarification. “Very specific questions are being asked that they cannot ignore. It does take us a lot further,” expects Burghgraef.
The solution, according to Burghgraef, is simple. “That the minister plainly tells the Tax and Customs Administration that the levy is not an issue and that the agricultural exemption will be maintained. Then the problem is solved. Even if the Supreme Court would not rule in favor of Prince, the minister can still say: I am not going to implement that statement.”
Burghgraef thinks the affair could have far-reaching consequences. “The government wants to have planted 37,000 hectares of agricultural land by 2030, of which 19,000 hectares must come from farmers. They are becoming shy. They think: if I enter into an arrangement with the government and my children are later confronted with a levy from the tax I’m not going to start that.”
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality says it is particularly annoying that farmers have ended up in this situation and are now facing “unexpected and serious financial consequences.” Written statements during the court case by former LNV employees show that this “The additional assessment does not do justice to the intention of the scheme. But LNV is not about the taxation of the schemes in question, which is why LNV will enter into discussions with the Ministry of Finance to look for a solution,” said a spokesperson.
The Tax and Customs Administration does not want to comment substantively as long as the case is before the courts.