Jetten says Dutch tax-plan turmoil is ‘impossible to explain’

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten has called the turmoil over the government’s tax plan “impossible to explain” after hours of crisis talks, as the coalition agreed to defend the disputed tax laws in the Senate despite deepening tensions.

Jetten said people who no longer understood the political wrangling in The Hague were “absolutely right”. The dispute centres on a deal by coalition parties D66 and CDA with mainly left-wing parties to shift about €1 billion in taxation from work to wealth, which the VVD opposes.

The VVD has threatened to leave the coalition over the deal, reached without its agreement. Jetten said the fallout was not the VVD’s responsibility alone, and acknowledged that the process had taken too long and caused too much strain within the coalition.

The government will defend both the tax plan and a separate bill on taxing gains in box 3, the system covering savings and investments, in the Senate. The two measures passed the House of Representatives with different combinations of support: the tax plan despite the VVD voting against it, and the box 3 bill with a majority from right-wing parties.

Jetten described the prospect of Finance Minister Eelco Heinen, a VVD member, sharing responsibility for implementing a plan his party opposed as “a unique situation”. He said he would prefer the coalition to act together on all matters.

CDA deputy prime minister Bart van den Brink said the dispute had put cooperation under pressure, but that the three coalition parties had decided to defend both bills in the Senate. Talks about the coalition’s future are due to continue over the coming days. Van den Brink said his confidence remained “extremely great”.