News May 19, 2020
The wealth inequality in the Netherlands is even greater than expected. Very wealthy Dutch people have stored twice as much capital in BVs than was always assumed: 400 billion euros instead of 200 billion euros. This is evident from the report “Building blocks for a better tax system” by the Ministry of Finance.
This should be news: the equity inequality is (still) much greater than previously thought, because 400 billion assets of director-large shareholders in their BVs are more than twice as large as always shown in the statistics: https: / /t.co/2IA3DeHSYd pic.twitter.com/m2WsNm9qf6
– Bas Jacobs (@_basjacobs) May 18, 2020
The authors of the report conclude that the tax on capital has decreased in the Netherlands this century. “Compared to other countries, it is striking that the Netherlands levies less tax on household income and on the amount of wealth,” the report states. This is partly due to the mortgage interest deduction.
In comparison with other countries, workers in the Netherlands pay relatively much tax. Moreover, they have started paying more taxes this century. The tax on labor increased especially after the financial crisis.
Research among Dutch people shows that they would prefer to see the tax on labor go down, the researchers write. The lower tax on labor should be offset by higher taxes on corporate profits and environmentally polluting activities.
cc photo: Mike Mozart
