News item | 01-06-2023 | 15:44
Legal assistance in disputes with the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency
The cabinet will appoint an independent representative for the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency. This advocate will help citizens and companies who get stuck in the implementation of their files or for whom help is needed quickly because there are far-reaching (financial) consequences. As a first step, the cabinet will appoint a quartermaster who will design how this should be designed in an independent manner. Legal assistance must match the wishes and needs of citizens and businesses as much as possible.
The representative to be appointed must ensure continuous attention to practical legal protection within the implementation of both services and that citizens and companies that get stuck are further helped. The representative also identifies structural problems that arise from situations in which legislation and regulations implemented by the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency are restrictive.
State Secretary van Rij and State Secretary de Vries: “We think it is important that there is an independent party that stands on the side of citizens and companies, if they cannot find a solution with the first-line services of the Tax and Customs Administration and/or the Benefits Agency. The independent representative is therefore an important addition to the existing services provided by society and the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency.”
Government-wide approach
Citizens can already turn to various parties for legal assistance. This includes social counsellors, trade unions, social service providers and the Juridisch Loket. However, this help is not sufficient or affordable for everyone. Also, the available help sometimes differs per region. That is why the government also wants to improve access to independent legal assistance at local level. The government is doing this, among other things, through the Work on Implementation (WAU) programme.
In addition, the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency are developing their services to intermediaries, such as social advisers. For example, a trial is underway within the Tax and Customs Administration in which social counselors have their own dial-in number for the Tax Information Line. At the Benefits Service, a number of intermediaries can already contact the Benefits Service directly. In the coming period, we will look at how this can be phased in more widely. In a broad sense, the Tax and Customs Administration and the Benefits Agency are committed to further strengthening their own existing processes. Such as the counters and support centers, the help team for people with complex tax debts (Stella) and the counter for tax mediation.
Follow-up
In the short term, the cabinet will start recruiting a quartermaster who will draw up a design for the structure of the independent representative. The cabinet expects the quartermaster to be able to start his or her work at the beginning of September. The government aims for the representative to be able to start his or her work in 2024.