28 November - Hearing Complete

Dear UENL Community, 

Yesterday, we had our hearing with the High Court. It lasted slightly less than an hour, where both parties read prepared statements and had time to answer clarifying questions for the judges. At this point, we have no indication on "how it went". We expect to have a ruling within 12 weeks. Once we have that ruling, it will be appealed. Specifically, if we "win", we know the Belastingdienst will appeal. If they "win", we will appeal. The appeal goes to the Supreme Court. On average, that process takes approximately a year for a written decision. In other words, our patience must continue. 

I do not expect any updates for some time, but should something change, I will notify you. 

Lastly, I wanted to let you know that yesterday was Hans' last day with Taxperience. He will still remain a consultant for our case, but Maarten van den Beucken (who has been part of the case for some time) will be our lead litigator. 

We will miss Hans very much - his humour, kindness, and patience most especially.  Maarten knows he has big shoes to fill, and promises to do so. I trust him. 

Warmly, 

Jessica 

23 Sept - Hearing Scheduled

Dear Community,

Below an update that was shared via the Google listserve:

  • Status: In my previous update email I mentioned that Taxperience has filed the complete letters of appeal which include the grounds of our appeal to the Higher Tax Court of Amsterdam. The next step in the process is that the tax authorities will have the opportunity to file their view in a letter to the tax court. They did not do this yet and have until September 30 to do so. It is good to know that, per default, Taxperience will not share appeal letters as they contain personal data.

  • Hearing Scheduled: The Higher Tax Court of Amsterdam has invited us to present the case during a hearing. The hearing will take place at the end of November.

  • Decision Date: In our prior update, I mentioned that we expected to have a decision of the Court around May/June 2025. Since the hearing will take place at the end of November (which is earlier than previously expected), we now expect a decision of the Court before the end of February 2025.

  • Participation in Case: In the background, Taxperience has been busy finalizing the list of all participants that can join our legal case together with the tax authorities. (For context: there were some people in the previous round that had missed the deadline for participation. Taxperience has been working to add them if they met the agreed-upon criteria). The final list of participants is available now. Taxperience has contacted you per email at September 19 to confirm you are on the final list. 

  • If you are not on the list of participants: Taxperience has done the best they can to add as many cases to the list as possible, but there are some that cannot be added because certain criteria were not met. If you did not receive an email from Taxperience on September 19 (please also check your spam-filter), you are not on the final list. Please be assured that the legal team did their utmost to add as many participants as possible to the final list. I do fully understand that not being on the list is extremely disappointing, however, I kindly request you to accept this. Sending emails to the legal team asking how to be added to the list will not change the situation - the list of participants is final and no one will be added anymore.

  • Next steps if you are NOT on the final list of participants: In situations where a case could not be added, any potentially submitted letters of content will be withdrawn and participation in the Taxperience-led legal case will not be possible. Naturally, for those that cannot participate, you can continue legal action individually. In that case, please inform Taxperience prior to October 7. However, if you are not part of our legal battle, chances of success are minimal, especially since you are excluded from the list of participants for a reason which makes your case weaker than ours, and we know that our case is already a very hard fight to win. Taxperience will not be available to assist you in your individual legal case. If you do not inform Taxperience prior to October 7, they will withdraw your letters of contest, which means that you cannot challenge the reduction of your 30%-ruling anymore. Of course, I hope that you will remain a supporter of our case! 

 Let’s keep our fingers crossed. I will send an update as soon as we have more relevant news to share.

 Best, also on behalf of the legal team,

Jessica (UENL Stichting Chair)

Summer Update

Dear UENL Community – 

After the summer break, I am pleased to provide a short update re the status of our legal fight.

Status: Thanks you to all for your continued support! And, of course, not in the least for your financial support, which enabled us to agree with Taxperience to continue the litigation. After the filing of pro-forma letters of appeal in April to safeguard our position, Taxperience has now also filed the complete letters of appeal which include the grounds of our appeal to the Higher Tax Court of Amsterdam last week. The next step in the process is that the tax authorities will have the opportunity to file their view in a letter to the tax court.

Decision Date: It is expected that the Tax Court will schedule a hearing during Q1 of 2025. We hope to have a decision of the Court around May/June 2025.

Participation in Case: In the background, Taxperience has also been busy finalizing the list of all participants that can join our legal case together with the tax authorities. (For context: there were some people in the previous round that had missed the deadline for participation. Taxperience has been working to add them if these cases met the agreed-upon criteria). The final list of participants is expected on short notice now. Taxperience will contact you to confirm you are on the list by the end of September. You will be requested to respond to that email to confirm/update your contact details. It is no longer possible for new participants to join. If you were already on the list, nothing has changed – you remain on the list.

Taxperience has done the best they can to add as many more cases to the list as possible, but there are still some that cannot be added because certain criteria were not met. In situations where a case could not be added, any potentially submitted letters of content will be withdrawn and participation in the Taxperience-led legal case will not be possible. Naturally, for those that cannot participate, you can continue legal action individually. In that case, please inform Taxperience. However, if you are not part of our legal battle, chances of success are minimal, especially since you are excluded from the list of participants for a reason which makes your case weaker than ours, and we know that our case is already a very hard fight to win. Taxperience will not be available to assist you in your individual legal case.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed. I will send an update as soon as we have relevant news to share.

Best, also on behalf of the legal team,

Jessica