Employees of the Tax Authorities, Customs and the Surcharges Service will still use the Microsoft cloud. This increases the dependence on the government of the American software company. That is controversial and annoying, but it cannot be otherwise, the drivers conclude after research into alternatives.
The Tax Authorities now work with an outdated package from Microsoft. As a result, employees cannot work together in documents, for example. Mailing goes through our own servers and with the HCL Notes program.
The Tax and Customs Administration has been working since 2021 on the digital modernization of the workplaces, among other things because employees can then work more easily from home. The service wants to do that by using Microsoft365, including OneDrive and teams. These are applications that only work via the Microsoft cloud (Azure).
Dependence
The great dependence on the Dutch government of American cloud providers is the subject of political debate. The House of Representatives is very concerned about it. The Court of Audit also raised the alarm. These concerns are related to the increased geopolitical tensions. It is no longer inconceivable that the US government will use the control that American companies have about data from other countries.
In response to those concerns, a number of ‘migrations’ from government services to the MicrosoftCloud have been paused, including those of the Tax Authorities, Customs and the Surcharge Service. There is now still ‘continuing’. At SSC-ICT, the organization that regulates IT for 57,000 officials on nine ministries, that decision was not taken and alternatives have yet been given an opportunity.
The decision will include e-mail traffic and the entire mail archive of the Tax Authorities in the Microsoft cloud, including sensitive information
In one letter to the Lower House Light out of outgoing State Secretary for Finance Eugène Heijnen (BBB) decision and considerations. The bottom line is that the Tax Authorities were already so far with adjusting the workplaces that the introduction of alternatives is no longer feasible. It would require too much manpower and scarce electricity in the own data center of the Tax Authorities in Apeldoorn. Moreover, Microsoft’s account has partly been paid in advance, although that is not in the letter to parliament. Files of citizens and their declarations remain on their own servers. They only end up with Microsoft if employees communicate and share files with each other.
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According to the letter, Microsoft has been negotiated again and it has been agreed that the data will only be stored in Europe. That makes no legally a difference, but physically possibly in extreme scenarios where cables are cut. An exit strategy is also rigged if an ‘acute departure from the cloud environment’ is required.
In the letter, the State Secretary hints that it is unfortunate that it was not possible to find a European alternative in time that can offer the same level of safety and continuity as Microsoft.
Most secrets
Independent ICT expert Bert Hubert, who has fueled the discussion about strategic digital autonomy for years, responds disappointed to the news. He points out that with the choice of e-mail traffic via Microsoft, the entire mail archive of the Tax Authorities also hits. “This is a very important choice for the implementing organization with perhaps the most secrets in the Netherlands. Because everyone has passed the emails of the Tax Authorities in the last twenty years.”
He also points to the ‘rulings’ of the tax authorities. These are secret international agreements about which companies should pay tax in the Netherlands, and how much. Large companies in particular negotiate things like that and the details of that consultation are sensitive. Hubert: “I think they find those rulings very interesting in America.”
Correction (2 October 2025): This article stated outgoing State Secretary for Finance Eelco Heijnen of the VVD, but that had to be outgoing State Secretary for Finance Eugène Heijnen of the BBB. That has been adjusted.
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