Business group warns Dutch tax plan could affect entrepreneurs’ pensions

The Dutch VVD is open to letting people with modest savings hold more assets before they start paying tax under box 3, ANP reported on 30 September. VVD politician Wendy van Eijk said she wanted to explore another way to finance the planned tax changes while sparing smaller savers. [1]

The cabinet wants people to start paying box 3 tax at €30,000 in assets, compared with a threshold of about €60,000 at the time of the report. Van Eijk was responding to SGP MP André Flach, who objected to taxing people with small savings. She also acknowledged weak points in the proposed financing. [1]

The wider cabinet plan would tax gains on shares when investors sell them at a profit. The cabinet also hopes to raise more money through changes to box 2, which taxes income such as dividends received by substantial shareholders in private companies. [1]

Update

Under the proposed changes to the Netherlands’ box 3 tax, investors would pay tax on returns starting at a lower amount if the plans go ahead. ONL says many small-business owners have no pension fund and rely instead on savings and investments for retirement. The association also says an entrepreneur who has invested for years and cashes in a gain would pay 36% tax on it. [2]