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What errors were made?
Belastingdienst/Toeslagen made errors between 2005 and 2019.
Two types of errors were made. These errors are explained further down this page:
- People have been treated with institutional bias because they were involved in a CAF case. And therefore suffered damage.
- People were not offered a personal payment scheme or received no cooperation in a debt settlement, even though they were entitled to it. The reason for this was that an O/GS stamp had been wrongly given.
Do you receive allowances?
At the end of each year, it is calculated how much allowance you were entitled to that year. You may have received too little or too much allowance. If so, you will receive additional money afterwards or you will have to pay back money.
The chance that you have been disadvantaged by institutionally biased actions or an O/GS stamp is very small. But unfortunately, this did happen to some people.
Treated with institutional bias
People have been treated with institutional bias. This means that Belastingdienst/Toeslagen assumed from the start that someone was not entitled to allowance(s). And that this person was not given sufficient opportunity to demonstrate that he was entitled to the allowance(s). Belastingdienst/Toeslagen assumed that such a person was committing fraud because he or she was involved in a fraud investigation. This is referred to as a CAF case.
What is a CAF case?
In the past, a CAF case was an investigation to determine whether fraud had been committed. That investigation was then done in a case in which an (intermediary) person or office applied for allowances for people. If it appeared fraud was being committed, the rent allowance, care allowance and/or the child-related budget was stopped for all people who were represented by this agency. People had to pay back their allowance(s). Afterwards, it turned out fraud had been committed in only a few cases. People therefore wrongfully had to pay back their allowances. Because these people have been disadvantaged as a group, institutional bias has occurred. During those years, Belastingdienst/Toeslagen ‘acted with institutional bias’.
Personal payment scheme or debt settlement denied
Payment schemes were handled differently for people who had or received an O/G stamp. As a result, they were not offered a personal payment scheme, even though they were entitled to one. Belastingdienst/Toeslagen offered the standard payment scheme and demanded that the full debt was paid within two years.
In other situations, people asked Belastingdienst/Toeslagen to cooperate in a debt settlement. Belastingdienst/Toeslagen did not cooperate at the time because they had an O/GS stamp. That should never have happened.
Personal or standard payment scheme
A personal payment scheme is an arrangement between Dienst Toeslagen and a person. In the case of a personal payment scheme, they look at someone’s personal financial situation and how much they can pay per month (the repayment capacity). In the case of a standard payment scheme, a person must repay the entire debt within 24 months. The financial situation, i.e. how much someone can pay, is not taken into account.
What does O/GS mean?
O/GS stands for ‘opzet of grove schuld’ (intent or gross negligence). O/GS stamps were given if Belastingdienst/Toeslagen suspected that someone was deliberately passing on incorrect information. Or if information was missing. For example, information about a person’s income or about the costs of childcare. Due to the strict fraud policy, Belastingdienst/Toeslagen were too quick to assume people did this on purpose. As a result, these people were wrongly denied a personal payment scheme or were wrongly not receiving cooperation in a debt settlement.
What is the result of this treatment?
Some people:
- had to wrongly repay (part of) the allowance, or;
- have wrongly not received an allowance, or;
- were not offered a personal payment scheme, while they could have, or;
- received no help with a debt settlement, while they could have.