155,000 people paid too much interest on their overdue taxes

A tax error means that 155,500 people have paid a total of 30 million euros too much in late payment interest.

The software problem, which remained unknown from 2013 to 2021, was reported by independent journalist Wouter Schutte who had requested a reprieve in 2021 and felt that the amount he had to pay was too high.

“I thought I couldn’t be the only one,” he told RTL Nieuws, which opened an investigation into the matter.

The tax office said the error was the result of “human error” when the software was adapted to accommodate a change in the way interest was calculated in 2013.

People who overpaid will get their money back before the end of this year, the ministry said. The amounts concerned vary between 18 and 200,000 euros, specifies RTL.

Late payment interest is used by the tax authorities to encourage individuals and businesses to pay their taxes on time.

Among those deceived by this error are some 33,000 people who received benefits during this period, including parents affected by the child benefits scandal. Thousands of parents are still waiting for compensation.

The IRS isn’t the only government agency that makes mistakes. The UWV benefits agency recently admitted thousands of errors in disability compensation claims.

In a report published last year, national ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen said government organizations were showing little concern when it came to compensating people who were victims of their own mistakes.