Netherland, De Nationale Ombudsman
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Netherlands, De Nationale Ombudsman
The office
The office of the National Ombudsman has changed its e-mail address: bureau(at)nationaleombudsman.nl.
The web-site address was also changed: www.nationaleombudsman.nl.
On 15 December the office of the National Ombudsman will move to the following address:
P.O. Box 93122
2509 AC The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone and fax numbers remain unchanged.
Visiting address: Bezuidenhoutseweg 151, The Hague.
International contacts
Foreign visitors received at the office:
- 6 June, a delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance;
- 8 August, Ms. Mari Kawamura, graduate student at Kabe University and reseacher for Human Rights Forum 21;
- 23 August, dr. Tetsuo Seki, a professor from the Nihon University of Tokyo. Dr. Tetsuo Seki does a research on the ombudsman system;
- 28 September, a delegation from the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. They are in the Netherlands to study the Dutch Administrative Code.
Miscellaneous
Decisions on ex-officio reductions to apply from the date of the judgement given by the Court of Justice
The State Secretary for Finance has decided to amend the regulations governing ex-officio reductions and refunds. Reductions granted in connection with judgements by the Supreme Court resulting from preliminary rulings by the European Court of Justice will henceforth apply retroactively from the date of the judgement by the ECJ.
The State Secretary took this decision following a recommendation by the National Ombudsman in a report(1)* on an application submitted by an employee residing in Germany. The latter complained about the rejection of his request for a reduction of his income tax assessment for 1995, in which the non-resident taxpayer’s rate of 25% had been applied. He referred to a judgement given by the European Court of Justice on 27 June 1996 which declared that this special rate was incompatible with the EC Treaty (Asscher judgement). Nearly a year later, in a judgement of 28 May 1997, the Supreme Court fully accepted the ECJ’s judgement.
The Tax and Customs Administration based its rejection on the fact that the assessment in question was final on the date of the judgement by the Supreme Court. However, the National Ombudsman ruled that the tax administration should have taken the date of the judgement by the ECJ – which preceded the date of the assessment – as its starting point. The taxpayer in question will therefore receive a refund from the tax administration. In similar cases, an ex-officio reduction will be granted on request.
The National Ombudsman pointed out that when issuing income tax assessments to non-resident employees after the date of the ECJ judgement, the tax administration had knowingly and wilfully ignored the ECJ’s clear ruling on the non-resident taxpayer’s rate provided for in Dutch tax legislation.
Until the end of 1998, a tax rate of 25% applied to the first income tax band in the case of non-resident taxpayers not covered by national insurance schemes. This special rate was officially abolished on 1 January 1999.
(1) Report no. 2000/128 of 31 March 2000
Newsletter No. 22
Netherlands, De Nationale Ombudsman
The office
The office of the National Ombudsman has changed its e-mail address: bureau(at)nationaleombudsman.nl.
The web-site address was also changed: www.nationaleombudsman.nl.
On 15 December the office of the National Ombudsman will move to the following address:
P.O. Box 93122
2509 AC The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone and fax numbers remain unchanged.
Visiting address: Bezuidenhoutseweg 151, The Hague.Â
International contacts
Foreign visitors received at the office:
- 6 June, a delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance;
- 8 August, Ms. Mari Kawamura, graduate student at Kabe University and reseacher for Human Rights Forum 21;
- 23 August, dr. Tetsuo Seki, a professor from the Nihon University of Tokyo. Dr. Tetsuo Seki does a research on the ombudsman system;
- 28 September, a delegation from the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice. They are in the Netherlands to study the Dutch Administrative Code.
Miscellaneous
Decisions on ex-officio reductions to apply from the date of the judgement given by the Court of Justice
The State Secretary for Finance has decided to amend the regulations governing ex-officio reductions and refunds. Reductions granted in connection with judgements by the Supreme Court resulting from preliminary rulings by the European Court of Justice will henceforth apply retroactively from the date of the judgement by the ECJ.
The State Secretary took this decision following a recommendation by the National Ombudsman in a report(1)* on an application submitted by an employee residing in Germany. The latter complained about the rejection of his request for a reduction of his income tax assessment for 1995, in which the non-resident taxpayer’s rate of 25% had been applied. He referred to a judgement given by the European Court of Justice on 27 June 1996 which declared that this special rate was incompatible with the EC Treaty (Asscher judgement). Nearly a year later, in a judgement of 28 May 1997, the Supreme Court fully accepted the ECJ’s judgement.
The Tax and Customs Administration based its rejection on the fact that the assessment in question was final on the date of the judgement by the Supreme Court. However, the National Ombudsman ruled that the tax administration should have taken the date of the judgement by the ECJ – which preceded the date of the assessment – as its starting point. The taxpayer in question will therefore receive a refund from the tax administration. In similar cases, an ex-officio reduction will be granted on request.
The National Ombudsman pointed out that when issuing income tax assessments to non-resident employees after the date of the ECJ judgement, the tax administration had knowingly and wilfully ignored the ECJ’s clear ruling on the non-resident taxpayer’s rate provided for in Dutch tax legislation.
Until the end of 1998, a tax rate of 25% applied to the first income tax band in the case of non-resident taxpayers not covered by national insurance schemes. This special rate was officially abolished on 1 January 1999.
(1) Report no. 2000/128 of 31 March 2000
