The tax authorities will not be criminally prosecuted in the allowance scandal. The court in The Hague decided this on Wednesday in a complaint procedure. According to the court, criminal law does not offer the possibility to prosecute the service.
The benefits scandal revolves around a tougher, erroneous approach by the government to tackle fraud, for example with the childcare allowance. From 2013, tens of thousands of people were wrongly labeled as fraudsters by the tax authorities.
Many parents experienced (serious) financial problems as a result of the allowance scandal. At least 1,675 children of benefit parents were removed from their homes. The Rutte III cabinet fell as a result of the scandal at the beginning of this year.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) did not prosecute the tax authorities in 2021. According to the public prosecutor, there were no “crimes committed”. He also pointed to criminal immunity from the tax authorities.
Victims still wanted to hold the tax authorities liable
This sparked anger among some of the victims. They wanted to hold the tax authorities liable for gag, professional discrimination and coercion through abuse of authority. They then initiated an Article 12 procedure to have this done after all.
The court acknowledges that the victims were greatly affected by the allowance scandal, but, like the Public Prosecution Service, sees no legal grounds for prosecution. For example, the court recognizes that there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the tax authorities are guilty of professional discrimination, but prosecution is not possible because of the criminal immunity.
The court ruled that there are insufficient leads for gagging, coercion through abuse of authority and other defamatory charges.