Government should not force citizens into going digital, says the Dutch Ombudsman

Mistakes in transition from the “blue envelope”

Dutch national Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen has concluded that tax authorities have committed major mistakes  in the transition from the blue envelope to digital.
The Ombudsman described the transition period as beeing “too short”, resulting in the audience feeling “overhelmed”.
According to the Ombudsman’s recently published report, the government should not force citizens into making their tax declaration online, as this could result in weaker parts of the population loosing out. The option of going digital should remain an option.

Background

Van Zutphen began the investigation following the many complaints he received about the abolition of the envelope. Approximately fifty thousand households have no internet in the Netherlands and approximately two million people are illiterate.

Keep Me Posted EU has been monitoring the developments in The Netherlands (see previous news items here and here) and is happy to see the Ombudsman strongly supporting our cause.

By: NU.nl