If a taxpayer does not comply with a decision requiring information in pursuance of, for instance, Section 47 of the Dutch State Taxes Act or if their administration is not in order then reversal and increase of the burden of proof loom. Before this heavy evidentiary sanction can take place, the inspector shall issue a so-called ‘decision requiring information’. In it the inspector indicates what shortcomings the supply of information or the administration would have. Objections can then be lodged against this decision and, if so required, proceedings can be continued before the district court, the court of appeal, and finally before the Dutch Supreme Court. In the meantime, the inspector must adjourn the imposition of the assessment to which the decision requiring information is related. The assessment deadline is extended.
If the decision has become irrevocable then this basically results in reversal and increase of the burden of proof. The justification of the consequence of the reversal and increase of the burden of proof to be attached to an irrevocable decision requiring information can yet be discussed in the proceedings against the assessment. If this evidentiary sanction is applicable then the taxpayer is given the sheer impossible task of demonstrating that the (usually estimated) assessment is incorrect. The outcome of the proceedings against the decision requiring information is, therefore, of utmost importance to the success of the proceedings regarding the assessment.
De Bont Advocaten has extensive experience with conducting proceedings against decisions requiring information and the attorneys-at-law have dedicated many publications to this topic.
