Government measures in key jurisdictions 2nd edition final pages - Flipbook - Page 98
The Netherlands
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7
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Litigation
Are the courts
operating?
Tax
•
From 11 May 2020, physical hearings will recommence for cases where the physical
presence of the parties is deemed necessary. Criminal, youth, and family matters
have priority.
•
The deadlines for submitting documents to the courts remain unchanged as much
as possible, unless the court reports otherwise.
•
Whenever possible, courts aim to carry out any other hearings remotely, using
various digital aids that have been put into place.
•
Companies can obtain deferral of payment of income tax, corporate income tax, wage tax
and/or value added tax, excises (mineral oils, alcohol, and tobacco), insurance tax, gambling
tax, and landlord levy). The Dutch tax authorities will postpone collecting payment and grant
a deferral until September 2020, immediately after receipt of such request. The deferral
applies to current debts as well as the debts that arise during the three months after deferral
application. Furthermore, a deferral for a period longer than three months is possible
but is subject to further conditions. The deferral application may be submitted here.
•
The tax authorities will not impose default penalties for non-payment or late payment
of taxes. Default penalties (automatically) imposed will be reversed. Even though this is
not specifically confirmed, it is generally understood that both measures apply since 12
March 2020. The collection interest that normally starts after the expiry of the payment
term will be temporarily reduced from 4% to 0.01% from 23 March 2020 until 1 October
2020. This applies to all tax debts. In addition, the interest rate for unpaid tax will also be
reduced to 0.01% as of 1 June 2020. An exception to this is the temporary reduction of
the rate for unpaid personal income tax, which will take effect from 1 July 2020.
•
If a preliminary corporate tax assessment has been imposed and the taxable profit is likely
to be lower than the taxable profit estimated for the preliminary assessment, a reduction
of the preliminary assessment may be requested. This creates a right to a refund (if the
preliminary assessment has already been paid in full) or provides for a reduction of the
monthly tax due (if the preliminary assessment is paid on a monthly basis).
•
The Dutch government has announced that the Dutch tax authorities will grant all
requests to reduce preliminary assessments. The application may be submitted here.
•
The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security published a bill on 8 April 2020 on temporary
provisions in the area of the Ministry of Justice and Security in connection with the
coronavirus ( COVID-19) outbreak (the “Emergency Act”) and an accompanying
Explanatory Memorandum. The Emergency Act provides for, among other things:
Has any new
legislation been
introduced in light
of COVID-19?
Company
law matters
Have any measures
been put in place
to accommodate
social distancing
(such as remote
general meetings)?
– the facilitation of electronic decision-making by temporary derogation from the legal
and statutory provisions concerning holding physical meetings of legal entities,
– extension of the period for preparing annual accounts by the management board
instead of by the general meeting, and
– a temporary limitation on the ‘presumptions of proof’ for directors’ liability in case of
bankruptcy if filing the annual accounts is delayed as a result of COVID-19.
•
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The bill has now been adopted by the House of Representatives and must be adopted by
both the House of Representatives and the Senate. More information can be found here.
Government measures in key jurisdictions